Eagles secure top spot in Northern Conference

Basketball

Basketball is a game of skill, athleticism, and a large dose of strategy. It can resemble a game of chess at hyper speed, where winning strategies involve carefully considered player match ups, set plays, and multiple defensive formations. It is a fascinating sport for both the deep thinker and the admirer of pure athleticism and skill.

Last Saturday saw the Eagles take on the Lions in Dublin, National Cup winners, who boast one of the best American players in the league, the powerhouse Trudy Walker. Walker, from Florida, has dominated games this season, was MVP in their national cup final win, and player of the month for February thanks to massive games of 35 points and 26 rebounds. The Eagles Americans are highly skilled and athletic players but perhaps do not have the size to compete 1v1 with physical players like Walker, few have. But the Eagles had devised a superb masterplan, which they executed brilliantly to secure a nine-point victory, 61-70, and secure 1st place in the Northern Conference.

The Eagles were without American Carnethia Brown, who must return to the USA after doing a fantastic job for the club, both in terms of her own play and underage player development. However, Californian Imani Dixon has flown in to join the club for the remainder of the season. Imani played US college basketball with University of Saint Mary and subsequently played in both the German and Portuguese leagues. She is an exciting shooter with excellent ball handling skills and brings new options to the Eagles offense.

The game began in front of a large traveling troop of Eagle supporters and with both teams playing an aggressive man to man defence. The Lions opened the scoring with an offensive rebound and put back by Walker off a missed shot. The Eagles responded quickly with a steal and full court drive by Mayze.

But it was a concerning start, would Walker take over? The Eagles game plan had the excellent Casey Mulvey matched up against Walker, with teammates rotating down to double team Walker when she received the ball in the post (in the post/posting up, is a strong position taken up close to the basket). That strategy, coupled with determined boxing out of Walker on all shots saw Walker’s influence significantly diminished (boxing out is method used to limit rebounds). It was a physically demanding strategy from the Eagles and showed the high fitness levels of the Eagle players.

The Eagles’ defence was working, and so was their offense. Imani Dixon announced her arrival with an excellent block and subsequent driving layup. This was followed by a drive and dish by Emma Tolan to Mulvey, who converted from close range. Indeed, it was a fantastic first quarter from Mulvey, who finished with seven first quarter points including a powerful three-point play, and limited Walker to only two baskets for the quarter. The quarter finished with the Eagles up by four, 12-16.

Quarter two began with Mulvey picking up an early second foul and was quickly replaced by Eli Lopez-Sagrera. Would this give Walker an opportunity to impose herself on the game? No was the answer and Lopez-Sagrera took over were Mulvey left off, continuing to torment Walker with strong defence. Lopez-Sagrera was also busy on the offensive end scoring a couple of nice elbow jumpers.

A time out was called by the Lions, after which they changed their defence formation to a 2-1-2 zone. This move was shorted lived as the Eagles went on a scoring run, with Q2 substitutes Niamh Tolan and Aoife Maguire making their presence known with some fine shooting and slashing cuts to the basket. Maguire’s passing was particularly effective, and she would finish with six assists.

It was also the beginning of a great game from Niamh Tolan who would ultimately end the game with a team high 18 points. The Eagles went up by 10 points at one stage before the Lions switched back to the more effective man to man defence. The first half finished with a flourish as Lions bench player Tara Nevin hit three 3-pointers to cut into the Eagles led but still leaving them in front 32-37.

The 3rd quarter began with a bang. Casey Mulvey was back on Walker and immediately stole the ball to set up Mayze for a flying finish at the basket. The was quickly followed by a super fast-break score, with Mayze feeding Niamh Tolan for a power basket and foul, giving her a 3-point play. The Lions hit a long range three pointer to the delight of the home supporters, but the same supporters were quickly silenced by Imani Dixon, who calmly nailed a three-pointer of her own on the next possession. Lions were trying hard, but could not make any real inroads as the Eagles stuck to the task at hand of strong defence and disciplined offense. A fantastic long range three pointer from Niamh Tolan closed the quarter with the Eagles in a commanding 17 point lead, 42-59.

Quarter four required cool heads, as the Lions went for broke, extending their defence further up the court and looking to force the Eagles to turn the ball over. It had mixed results. Imani Dixon was able to capitalise on the scrambling Lions effort, scoring some nice baskets including an excellent finger roll finish off a strong drive to the hoop. Mulvey, Niamh Tolan, and Mayze all added scores for the Eagles as the desperate Lions began to throw up long range three-pointers in a last ditch attempt to win the game. It was not enough, and the Eagles closed out an excellent win, 61-70.

After the game Head Coach Dave Baker said, “Great performance, Lions made us dig deep and work hard for another win. Very proud of our defence tonight that got us in position to get the win. We take nothing for granted and its one game at a time. Our attention moves to Marble City (Kilkenny) next week”.

Niamh Tolan, top scorer for the Eagles, added “I thought we did a great job in defence. We didn’t let their star player Trudy Walker dominate like she has in other games. Our offence really clicked at times, and we put up some good scores”.

The win means the Eagles have secured first place in the North Conference with three games remaining. The overall league title is still up for grabs with a couple of teams from the South Conference still in the hunt. The Eagles are in prime position however, top of the overall standings with a 14-1 record, with their nearest rivels from the South being St. Pauls Killarney, close behind on 12-2.

Next up this Saturday 18th is an away game in Kilkenny against Marble City, a potential banana skin as while bottom of the standings they recently beat third place Portlaoise Panthers. The following weekend, 25th Feb 4pm, is the Eagles’ last home game against second place and much fancied St. Pauls Killarney. A game many are eagerly awaiting, it will be a cracker! With silverware and promotion to the Superleague all up for grabs it is going to be an incredibly exciting finish to the season.