Presentation Waterford who defeated Ursuline 38-30 in the u16B south-east final at WIT.

U 16 B final Presentation 38; Ursuline 30

The south east basketball league finals took place in Waterford Institute of Technology last week in front of a packed crowd.

The u16 B final which was a local derby between Pres Waterford and Ursuline Waterford. Ursula won a close league match between the two teams so a tight game was expected.

Pres got off to a great start with Shannon Keane and Jane Crowley getting early baskets as Pres built a 12-5 first quarter lead. Niamh O’Neill hit two three pointers for Ursuline in the second quarter but they still trailed at half time 20-10. Beth Carton’s superb play kept Pres in control and although Ursuline narrowed the deficit in the final quarter to four points Pres finished strongly to win by eight points.

Following their disappointing exit from the National Cup the previous weekend at the hands of DCU, coach Tommy O’Mahony was anxious to get a win under his belt before facing into two important games next weekend against Killester and Glanmire.

WIT-Wildcats had a poor slow start and trailed 6-10 after five minutes play with turnovers presenting Dynamos with some easy baskets. Niamh Mullally then came into the game scoring seven points and dominated the boards with some great rebounding.

Elaine Kennington also got on the score sheet to leave WIT Wildcats ahead 15-12 with a minute left in the opening quarter.

Captain Jenny Coady, who has been in great form, was fouled as she added another basket and then sunk the bonus point from the free-throw line.

Despite a spirited performance WIT Wildcats were defeated by champions DCU in the quarter final of the national cup at the Mercy gym on Sunday last.

DCU were hot favourites going into this game. However, WIT-Wildcats were hoping to upset the odds by building on some reasonable recent league form.

The girls from the south east did manage to stay on level terms with the Dubliners in the opening seven minutes of the first quarter until the homeside started giving the ball away for easy turnovers.

DCU’s sharp shooter Shauna O’Connor punished Wildcats hitting 3 three pointers in the opening quarter to leave the Dublin side 10 points ahead after 10 minutes.

Mercy Waterford finished off their league campaign last week by winning two games which put them into the league semi final where they have home advantage. Mercy u16 and senior were in action over this past week with two tough games

Mercy started off slowly and found it hard to trouble the Thurles net. On defence Aoife Frisby and Abbey Sherdian were to the fore thwarting many scores. Eventually Mercy found their range with Dana Aspell and Trisha Hamn finshing many fine moves which helped Mercy to a half time lead

Sometimes being in the top rank is not always a favorable position going into a knockout game.

WIT Wildcats are no strangers to Cup final weekend and even though the focus is game by game, going to the National Basketball Arena is never far from their minds.

On Friday last the WIT Wildcats girls travelled to play University of Limerick on their home court.

Wildcats preparation for this year’s cup has exceeded any other year and they mean business. The game started with a fabulous display of poise and precision from point guard Sinead Deegan, controlling the floor and feeding hot shot Melissa Stone on the three point line.

First up at 11am were the u14s who had a fantastic 47-10 victory.

The young Wildcats were fast out of the blocks and led 8-4 at the end of the first quarter. By half-time the home side had stretched their lead to 21-8.

A huge improvement was seen in the u14 team defence with all players stepping up to the mark and playing strong aggressive defence.

Offensively Wildcats ran a fast break game which lead to some easy lay ups that Ballincollig could not defend against.

WIT Wildcats who defeated Liffey Celtics of Dublin in the women's Superleague at the Mercy Gym last Saturday. | Photo: Noel Browne

WIT Wildcats 84; Liffey Celtics 58

WIT Wildcats team got back to winning ways in the Mercy gym last weekend with a comfortable 84-58 win over Dublin side Liffey Celtics.

This was an important game for WIT Wildcats following on from their narrow loss the previous weekend to Meteors and also to boost confidence before facing into two tough away games against league leaders UL and Glanmire in the coming weeks.

WIT Wildcats opened the scoring with Cathy Kavanagh but Liffey Celtics were level after five minutes on nine points each.

Jenny Coady was in top form again this week and the first of her three 3-pointers put WIT Wildcats ahead. Niamh Mullally also contributed seven points in the opening quarter to leave the scores 20-14 after 10 minutes play.

The second quarter saw Jenny Coady find the net with ease as she traded 3-pointers with former Wildcat Catriona White, now playing with Liffey Celtics.