No classic at the National Basketball Arena last night, but no refuge for those with pacemakers either. The first men's semi-final of Sprite Cup weekend threw up a local derby in which St Vincent's vainly struggled to recover from an early slump, despite a brave fourth quarter rally orchestrated by the ageless Mark Keenan. Notre Dame ran out 73-69 winners.
Vincent's coach Joey Boylan used Keenan, the Napoleon of the hardwood, sparingly, but in the last period the point guard did much to resuscitate his team, swishing a three-point shot to push them within seven points and then later drilling a gorgeous no-look pass at Chris Doyal who converted the lay-in to leave matters tied at 59 apiece with three minutes left on the clock.
But this was an evening for the veterans on both sides. Anthony Jenkins' shooting touch seems to grow sweeter with time, while Lenny McMillan pursues the running game with a willingness - and ability - which really isn't natural for a man staring down the barrel of the big four-o.
In the first half, it looked as if the pair would combine with the top scoring Calvin Morris to wither St Vincent's hopes through exuberance alone as they unleashed wave after wave of breaks for Ciaran Dempsey and Eamonn Gallagher to convert.
And when matters got tense in the end, the big three stepped up again - Jenkins drained a free throw, McMillan did likewise and Morris pawed a loose ball into space for Dempsey to lay in, leaving Notre Dame 65-59 to the good with under two minutes remaining.
Stephen McGurk - both brilliant and peripheral - writhed through for a quick two points, but Vincent's were chasing the game until Keenan fired another massive three-pointer in the final minute.
Notre Dame were suddenly shook as a quick lay-up by David Donnelly was followed by a snap three-point shot from Andy Myers as the last seconds rolled.
St Vincent's managed to grab a steal, but David Donnelly's speculative mid-court effort rimmed out and that was it.
Wildcats, the current women's cup holders, beat a young Killester side 75-55 without undue fuss also last night. Wildcats had a spluttery start, but settled after Michelle Maguire swooped for a lay-up before replying to a three-pointer from Killester's June Blount, to leave her side trailing 89.
On their next possession, Wildcats' Olivia O'Reilly hit a bank shot and, once in front, they pushed remorselessly ahead with Jillian Hayes dominating under the boards and Michelle Aspell coming off the bench to give something of a shooting clinic.
Killester didn't possess sufficient muscle under their own boards and fell further behind in the second quarter by conceding fouls which the Waterford side punished.
The Dublin team never quit, but with point guard Sinead Vaughan consistently pressurised by O'Reilly, they never got into their rhythm offensively and suffered for the lack of outside shooting potency, with the sole exception of Blount, who hit 19.
Emer Brophy, Killester's promising forward, also had a lively game offensively and really merited more possession, if only for her tireless efforts.
Killester may feel they ought to have been afforded more protection from the referees but were unarguably comprehensively outplayed by this formidable Wildcats side.
Coach Craig Madsinski has honed a side which seems to contain the whole package. They defend aggressively, are blessed with incredible inside strength through Maguire, Trish Nolan and Hayes, have an abundance of shooting prowess and are devastating on the break.
Although the Dublin team trailed by just 11 points at the halfway stage, the match slipped beyond them early in the third quarter when a string of free throws gave Wildcats a 53-33 lead.
Hayes spun inside to extend that lead to 61-39 in the early stages of the fourth quarter and thereafter Wildcats were always in control.
