History makers Maree enjoy their first Super League win

Basketball history was made on Saturday night in Calasanctius College in Oranmore as Maree won their first ever Men’s Super League game after a 102-100 shoot-out win over DCU Saints. 

Irish Youth International point-guard Eoin Rockall was instrumental in the win scoring 36 points, which included 7-10 from 3-point range. Kenneth Hansberry had 17 points while American Jamelle Tolliver had 16. 

For DCU Saints, their American star Dee Proby continued his hot scoring streak with 37 points, which also included a whopping 18 rebounds, and Graham Brannelly chipping in with 28.

Maree Head Coach John Finn was delighted to finally get the monkey off his back, “We played very well and matched up well against DCU. We have basically set ourselves up for the past few games so that when we got a game that was close we would actually win it. I think tactically, we got it right.”

On the history-making victory Finn said, “Yes, it’s the first win in the Super League for Maree Basketball Club. It has taken us too long to get to the pace of the Super League. I think this game had players shooting well on both teams, so it was a high scoring game.”

He had high praise for Rockall after his wonderful performance, “Our point-guard Eoin Rockall had a fantastic game offensively and we had really good displays from quite a few others as well. We will just look at next weeks game now and try to keep the momentum going.”

Maree guard Padraig Burke (pictured above) also spoke to us after the big win. He was thrilled more so for the fans, “We are delighted to get the first win. It is massive for the club and it was great to see the young supporters celebrate it after the buzzer. There has been massive support from the club so it’s great to give something back. Hopefully we can get a few more before Christmas now and get up the table a bit to where we should be.”

Burke said that they were delighted to have more consistent play on the night, “DCU are a great team, and club, so it is great to get one over on them. So far we have been playing well in bursts, and keeping with teams, but not putting a full 40 minutes together. Even on Saturday we started very slow but we were able to keep it to 8 at the half and we knew we were in striking distance.”

“We had a great fourth quarter offensively and we were able to get some big stops to hold onto the win. If we made our free throws it might have been more comfortable in the end.”

“It was a very physical game, but in fairness to the refs they let the game flow. It is good when refs understand the game and talk to you.”

The guard enjoys the banter with players from the opposition players, saying, “The on-court talk with opposition has been good craic. One or two take it a bit more serious than others.”

Having lost their opening 8 matches Burke acknowledges how tough the season has been but hopes that this win can be the catalyst for a much improved second half to the season, “It has been a tough season. We’re not used to losing games over the last few seasons. We have also had some trouble with injuries that we haven’t had in other years, so it’s been hard work, but all the lads are going well now so hopefully we can build on this. It’s great to have good quality games every week and we’re improving because of it.”

He also explains his own position with the team, “Myself and 2 others in the rotation live in Dublin so we miss a lot of training. It has been like that for the last couple of years though so were used to it. Because we’re undersized I have been playing out of position a good bit but I really don’t care once I’m playing. I just try to put in a shift on defence and do whatever the team needs me to do.”