Double trouble for Tralee Warriors as they fail second UCC Demons ...

Garvey’s Tralee Warriors 80

UCC Demons 93

Garvey’s Tralee Warriors suffered a second defeat in a week at the hands of UCC Demons, the side that ended the Warriors’ Natioanl Cup dream last weekend, going down by 93-80 to the Cork outfit at the Tralee Sports Complex on Saturday night.

Taking to the court without the services of both Brandon Mahan and Daniel Jokubaitis was always going to add to the challenge of avenging the Cup defeat but that said Demons also were without Kyle Hosford and David Lehane and still managed to see out the win with the accuracy of James Hannigan from beyond the arc and the unstoppable Elijah Tillman in the paint giving Demons the edge.

In a lively and entertaining opening quarter Demons sparked up first with Pat Robinson and the Hannigans, James and Scott, giving the visitors an early lead. Warriors were back on terms when Rap Buivydas, Eoin Quigley and Steven Bowler with a double, found their range.

Robinson weaved his way to the Warriors board twice before Elijah Tillman opened his account in typical style to edge Demons ahead but the Warriors levelled through James Fernane with two cracking threes and Bowler followed his lead to fire the hosts in front. But Robinson was to have the final saw in the quarter with a lay-up to level the contest at 21-21.

The Warriors took off on a run early in the second with Buivydas and Josh Osayanrhion combining for a double each to push their side 31-23 ahead. Demons replied in kind through Robinson, Toby Christensen and Scott Hannigan to level the game again midway through the quarter.

Mark Stephens then landed from distance for Warriors but Robinson and Christensen were both in range to put four between the sides. James Fernane cut the gap to the minimum knocking down his third major of the evening but Demons still led 39-38 at half time.

Demons’ playmaker Robinson was on target from inside and out again early in the third but scores from Buivydas and Quigley saw just a single score between the teams. The Warriors wrestled the lead back when threes from Stephens and Buivydas either side of a tough finish from Greg Adon put the hosts 53-52 up.

However the alarm bells started to ring for Warriors when the Demons captain for the evening James Hannigan led by example to fire his side 59-53 up with a hat trick of scores. Despite Adon cutting the advantage to the minimum with an and one and two from the line, Hannigan planted his feet to beat the buzzer with a statement major score that silenced the Complex crowd as Demons took a 63-58 lead into the final quarter.

Hannigan’s accuracy from distance was on point with a hat trick of stunning threes early in the final quarter that threatened to settle the contest with Demons suddenly 72-60 up. The Warriors scrambled to regain their composure and Buivydas and Adon combined to halve the lead but Christensen added to put double digits between the teams again.

Even the ejection of the Demons dynamic guard Pat Robinson didn’t help the Warriors cause as Elijah Tillman chose his moment to step into the breach and boss the exchanges in the paint that saw him land a quick-fire 10 points.

The Warriors had no answer to the big forward’s threat and despite major scores from Buivydas and Adon the hosts were reeling 87-76 down as the final buzzer approached. Osayanrhion and Stephens chipped in with late consolation scores but Tillman, Christensen and MVP James Hannigan added in the dying seconds to apply some gloss to the final scoreline of 93-80.

Top scorers

UCC Demons: Patrick Robinson 28, Toby Christensen 18, Elijah Tillman 16

Garvey’s Tralee Warriors: Rap Buivydas 21, Greg Adon 18, Mark Stephens 12

Warriors suffered their second defeat of the weekend losing by one point to UCD Marian on Sunday

Garvey’s Tralee Warriors 81

UCD Marian 82

Garvey’s Tralee Warriors suffered their second defeat of the weekend when going down 82-81 to UCD Marian on Sunday afternoon. The Warriors were looking to bounce back from the defeat to Demons on Friday night but got off to the worst possible start gifting the Dublin college side a 29-8 first quarter lead.

The Tralee side valiantly chased down UCD Marian right down to the final buzzer but ultimately came up agonisingly short by just a single point. It makes it five defeats in a row for the Warriors ahead of a pivotal Kerry derby showdown with arch rivals Flexachem KCYMS on Wednesday night.

Despite opening the scoring from play through Greg Adon and Rap Buivydas, the Warriors were left stunned as UCD Marian, who edged a double overtime win over Flexachem KCYMS the previous night, took over to build a 22-4 lead midway through the quarter.

The scores simply rained down with major efforts from Jonathan Jean and Lovre Tvrdic lighting up to add 10 points as the Warriors defence struggled to cope with the onslaught. Daniel Jokubaitis landed a score late on but a three from Tvrdic and inside efforts from Jean and Colm O’Reilly saw the Dublin college outfit 29-8 up at quarter time.

The Warriors set about paring down the sizable gap in the second and the introduction of Ryan Leonard, who was making his first appearance since his serious knee injury in last season’s Cup semi-final, had an instant impact as he knocked down a major score following similar efforts from Eoin Quigley and Brandon Mahan. When Leonard and Jokubaitis also found the target again from outside the Warriors had cut the Marian lead back to a more manageable 7 points but still trailed 37-30.

Guilem Catany added a quick-fire double and hat trick of major scores from Tanner Graham saw Marian quickly restore a double digit lead and despite a couple of threes from Jokubaitis and Mahan, James Connaire hit the Warriors for six late in the quarter to see Marian 55-43 up at half time.

The Warriors continued to chip away at the Marian lead early in the third with Buivydas, Adon and Mark Stephens combining to cut the gap to single figures but at the other end of the court Marian were still finding scores when they looked for them through Matthew McGrath, Tvrdic, Jean and Connaire to keep their lead intact. When Catany and Graham added late in the quarter for the visitors, their 71-56 lead looked like a game winning one heading into the final quarter.

In an admirable show of defiance and determination, the Warriors embarked on chasing down the Marian lead and the scores came thick and fast as Buivydas, Leonard, Jokubaitis and Quigley were all on target as the scores from Marian began to dry up. However Oscar Blanco, Ronan Byrne and Graham still combined to keep the sizable lead intact.

A late run from Warriors sparked by Ryan Leonard’s third three saw Mahan and Buivydas also in range and with Marian in foul trouble the home side took full advantage from the line as the Warriors fans sensed an unlikely comeback win. However a turnover by Warriors in the final play of the game proved to be decisive as it allowed Marian to seal the 82-81 win in the end.

Top scorers

UCD Marian: Lovre Tvrdic 18, Tanner Graham 16, Jonathan Jean 13

Garvey’s Tralee Warriors: Rap Buivydas 22, Ryan Leonard 13, Greg Adon 12

The Warriors face two crucial home League games this week as they attempt to arrest their recent run of defeats when they welcome local rival Flexachem KCYMS on Wednesday at 8pm before entertaining Éanna on Saturday at 7.30pm.