Third home defeat leaves Wildcates waning
Wildcats' Tiarra Brown on the attack.
SETU Wildcats suffered their third home defeat of the season when they lost out in overtime to newly promoted Cavan Eagles at the Mercy Sports Hall on Saturday last. This leaves the STS sponsored Wildcats in mid-table with three wins and three losses from their six games played to date.
Wildcats raced into 6-0 lead before Cavan squared the game with two of their many three-pointers. Tiara Brown then had a hot spell for Wildcats with four consecutive baskets before the visitors put on a press which proved effective; Wildcats had several of poor turnovers which were turned into easy scores for the opposition who went ahead by two points.
A couple of jump shots from Kate Hickey and a last gasp three from Alyssa Durazo- Frescas saw the home side squeeze ahead 25-22 at the end of the opening quarter.
As the game progressed so did the pace with both sides matching score for score. Hickey sisters Kate and Sarah contributed 12 points between them but that fell short of the Cavan total as the Eagles went to the break leading by a single point 46-47. Wildcats coach Jillian Hayes had cause for concern at this point as starters Tiara Brown and Sanija Brikmane were both on three personal fouls, meaning they would have to sit for a time before being reintroduced later.
The third quarter had scarcely started when Eagles American Soleil Barnes struck from distance to leave Cavan up by 4. Moments later it was all square again thanks to a couple of baskets from Kate Hickey. Again Barnes blitzed the Wildcats net with a couple of long range missiles which she enhanced with successful shots on the free throw line.
With four minutes to the end of the penultimate quarter Cavan Eagles led comfortably 48-58, then Sarah Hickey found the net on a number of occasions before Alyssa Durazo-Frescas blazed a couple of three pointers to tie it all up once more at 64 points each with the final quarter to play.
There no let-up in the pace of the game as both sides battled hard for the crucial baskets that would give them victory. Cavan hit another big three-pointer which was soon cancelled out by an equally big three from Wildcats Mel Stone. From this point on it was a nerve tingling affair as it looked like either team could edge it.
Then Tiara Brown struck with a number of fine scores to put Wildcats up by five with six minutes remaining. Back came Cavan cancelling out the deficit and going up by four points with three minutes on the clock.
Two baskets from the Hickey Sisters left a trembling score board reading 82 all with 2 minutes to go. Inside the final minute Brown hit what looked like a winner for Wildcats until a late late foul allowed Cavan 2 free shots which were sweetly put away forcing the game into overtime.
Two weary teams took the floor for five minutes of overtime in a game no one deserved to lose. Cavan struck first with another long distance three pointer, one of 11 in total for the sharp shooting Eagles and then hit four from four on the free throw line.
Then to add to Wildcats woe the Eagles Tolan sisters were successful with lay ups to put the game beyond the home side who never gave up as Alyssa hit three consecutive late three-pointers before the final buzzer sounded.
The result leaves Wildcats with an uphill battle to stay in touch for a top-four spot. A win in Portlaoise this coming Saturday would be helpful and put the Wildcats in the right frame of mind for their home National Cup quarter final the following Saturday against reigning champions Killester.
