Meteors march on

THE cup winners Meteors added the post season Top Four Championship to their title haul this season with a 79-61 win over the…

THE cup winners Meteors added the post season Top Four Championship to their title haul this season with a 79-61 win over the league champions Wildcats in Sandyford yesterday.

It was a third decisive victory for Meteors over the Waterford club in the last six weeks and once again the tactic of playing strong defence on Wildcats' centre Jillian Hayes paid off handsomely.

The Meteors captain Mary O'Mahony must surely have played her way into contention for a return to the national squad as she overshadowed Hayes, in much the same way as she managed in the cup final a month earlier, to dominate the boards and also finish as the highest scorer in the game on 18 points.

Meteors prevented Wildcats from registering a single score for the first three and a half minutes and by half-time they led 40-34. From there on they were rarely troubled and ran out easy winners.

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On Saturday, Meteors won their semi-final against Dublin rivals Naomh Mhuire 76-66 while Wildcats only got through 69-64 against Tolka Rovers.

In the Division Two Top Four, the champions MSB bent Eagles 74-61 in the final, having only defeated Killester 45-44 in the semi-final.

With most of the major issues decided in the men's Budweiser super league, the defeat of the new champions Tralee away to Delta by 88-86 dampened the celebrations of the Kerry club a little.

For Delta, victory meant little as their remaining hopes of securing a Top Four berth evaporated within minutes of their notable success due to Killester's victory 85-84 over Neptune in Cork.

Two late free throws by Pat Grennell clinched a place in the post-season tournament for the north Dublin club.

Star of the Sea's dismal end to the season continued when they lost for the fourth time in five league matches away to St Paul's, who triumphed by 101-85 in Killarney.

Meanwhile, Ballina's tenuous hopes of avoiding relegation which hinge on an appeal to the National Executive, remain intact as they beat North Mon 100-87 after overtime. Liam McHale tied the teams with one second to go in ordinary time and the Mayo club dominated from there on.

However, if the IBA rules against Ballina's appeal, the cup winners will go down to Division One next season no matter how they do in their final match next week.