St Pauls win sets up all Kerry Cup final
SCRUFFYS St. Pauls ensured that the Senior Women's National Cup title will be coming to Kerry this year after they defeated Killester in their semi-final to set up an exciting all-kerry final with Tralee Imperials.
Basketball: Senior Women's National cup semi-final
Scruffy St. Pauls 58 Killester 48
Scruffys were led in scoring by their captain, Lynn Jones, who notched 16 points as the Killarney team enjoyed a 10-point margin of victory.
Determined to set the game to a fast pace, St. Pauls produced an aggressive full court press that stunned Killester in the opening minutes, however, Killester matched them all the way and led by a point lead at the end of the quarter.
The second quarter commenced in similar fashion, and was tight all the way until a crucial three-pointer from Scruffys' Muiriosa Galwey closed the second quarter to give Scruffys St. Pauls the scoring advantage at half time.
St. Pauls continued their zone press in the opening minutes of the third quarter which prompted Killester to do the same. Killester were rewarded when Elaine O'neill connected on a basket to cut the deficit to single digits.
Scruffys' Mairead Finnegan and Lynn Jones continued their contributions while Killester's defence began to break down and a final basket by Jones put Scruffys ahead by seven points at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter proved to be Scruffys' domination as they surged forward to increase their advantage and Killester could not connect on easy shots as St. Paul's began the celebration for their anticipated trip to the National Basketball Arena for the Senior Women's Final.
St. Pauls top scorers: L Jones 16, M Galwey 13, K Canty 8
