Templeogue poised to face Demons

Templeogue poised to face Demons

TEMPLEOGUE Men’s Basketball team will bid to reach their second National Senior Cup Final in three seasons when they travel to Cork to face off against UCC Demons in the Mardyke Arena this coming Saturday.

With the club’s Under 18s also in National Cup last-four action the following day, coach Mark Keenan will be hoping his senior side can lead by example and set up a title match against either Pyrobel Killester or current Super League leaders UCD Marian.

Templeogue v Tralee 01

The last time Templeogue and UCC met in the league back in October, the match went to overtime with Templeogue eventually winning out by eight.

That victory brought to an end, a run off three successive defeats for the  defending Super League champions, who have since climbed to third place in the table, just three points off leaders UCD who have played a match less.

Keenan is expecting a more convincing performance from his side this time around, but still fully appreciates the threat that Demons pose.

“We’ve been constantly improving” he told The Echo. “I’ll have more bodies to call on so we’ll be looking to keep the tempo high and try and wear them down.

“I know it’ll be on their home court that so that has got to give them some type of an advantage, but we’ve gone there before and played well.

“Our players just have to go into the game with the right attitude and not be complacent.

“Demons lost out to Moycullen at the weekend, but they still managed to put up 94 points. I know we can score heavily too, but it’s about trying to contain them.

“They’ve got some great players like [Kyle] Hosford and Colin O’Reilly who’ll probably be targeting the cup now after that loss to Moycullen may have put the league a bit out of reach for them” he added.

The Dubliners are likely to have back Sergi Bertran and Jean Basileu for this match, giving them more height for this battle.

Baolach Morrison has been working his way  back from injury and Luke Thompson has also been coming into some good form while the experience of players like Jason Killeen, Michael Bonaparte, Puff Summers, Neil Randolph, Lorcan Murphy, Stephen James and Morrison will be huge for Templeogue on Saturday.

The following day Templeogue’s Under 18s will lock horns with KCYMS in their respective National Cup semi final.

Coached by Jason Killeen, the team came through a nailbiting showdown with Moycullen of Galway in the last eight, emerging 89-86 point winners.

Iarla McKeon hit 26 points on that occasion with Kris Arcila and Aston Kisuka each chipping in with 18 to help counter the damage inflicted by Moycullen’s Paul Kelly who chalked up a massive 33.

Victory on Sunday in Neptune Stadium will propel this Templeogue outfit through to a title match clash against either Ongar Chasers or Neptune.

TAGS
Share This