Star brought their ‘A’ game for the return match of the back-to-back series with Phoenix when they welcomed them back to Fortress St. Malachy’s, winning in emphatic fashion 85-30.
This was the first game where the team delivered on the potential they have shown in patches this season, responding to the coaching staff’s demand for a sustained performance from start to finish, and in fairness did they ever.
Jumping on the visitors from the start, Star rattled in 10 straight in less than 2 minutes, forcing Phoenix to call time-out as their team were clearly rattled. Michael McWilliams was the main beneficiary of excellent pressure defense on the perimeter by Eoin Nagle, Ethan Gibson & John Smye, getting on the end of multiple turnovers and racking up a quick 10 points in the first quarter. Kamil Kolos demonstrated again what a problem he can pose for any team on the boards, and was one basket shy of his first double-double in the first quarter alone, scoring 8 points all off offensive boards, and gobbling up 10 rebounds in total. It finished 29-6 at the break, and it really was entertaining stuff throughout.
The 2nd Quarter five picked up where the first five left off, with John Moran orchestrating on the point, and the combination of Peter Henvey & Niall McGinnity doing their thing in the paint. The offence ran very smoothly, with John Moran, Daniel Hackett & Niall McGinnity all demonstrating good decision-making and a nice touch from the outside, and Peter Henvey beasting Phoenix inside, and even when McGinnity had to take a chill pill for a minor technicality, Przemak Kwiecien stepped in and kept things ticking over with his usual selfless team play. Score was 43-13 at the short horn.
Phoenix didn’t lie down though, and despite being short their best player from the first game, kept slugging it out, P Corr & M Dmitrov connecting on a few treys to keep things interesting. But even with making wholesale 5 on/ 5off changes, Star kept their foot on the pedal, and it was great – and important – to see the players the whole way across the team posting great individual performances, and a few like Kamil Kolos and Daniel Hackett playing their best game of the season. Phoenix just couldn’t do much with the juggernaut coming at them, and Star closed the 4th Quarter off 23-4, making the final scoreline 85-30, a great performance.
The team responded to the challenge the coaching staff put to them at training following the previous two wishy-washy performances, and hopefully they can build on this as they head off for back-to-back away fixtures in Monaghan and Donegal. For the first time the team showed that they can play without relying heavily on the scoring of John Smye, as he was intentionally spared in this game to keep him fresh for the upcoming all-Ireland school game this week. The scoring load was evenly distributed across the team, with 6 other players chipping in between 8 & 18 points, Michael McWilliams top-scoring with the 18. But when this Star team play like this, it will be difficult for any team in the league to live with them, and with Eoin Nagle, Ethan Gibson & John Moran driving things in the back-court, Star’s 3 ‘bigs’ McWilliams, McGinnity & Kolos dominating the paint, and Le John and Kawhi Henvey playing at their customary high level, the team is in good shape to develop as planned.
This was the first game where the team delivered on the potential they have shown in patches this season, responding to the coaching staff’s demand for a sustained performance from start to finish, and in fairness did they ever.
Jumping on the visitors from the start, Star rattled in 10 straight in less than 2 minutes, forcing Phoenix to call time-out as their team were clearly rattled. Michael McWilliams was the main beneficiary of excellent pressure defense on the perimeter by Eoin Nagle, Ethan Gibson & John Smye, getting on the end of multiple turnovers and racking up a quick 10 points in the first quarter. Kamil Kolos demonstrated again what a problem he can pose for any team on the boards, and was one basket shy of his first double-double in the first quarter alone, scoring 8 points all off offensive boards, and gobbling up 10 rebounds in total. It finished 29-6 at the break, and it really was entertaining stuff throughout.
The 2nd Quarter five picked up where the first five left off, with John Moran orchestrating on the point, and the combination of Peter Henvey & Niall McGinnity doing their thing in the paint. The offence ran very smoothly, with John Moran, Daniel Hackett & Niall McGinnity all demonstrating good decision-making and a nice touch from the outside, and Peter Henvey beasting Phoenix inside, and even when McGinnity had to take a chill pill for a minor technicality, Przemak Kwiecien stepped in and kept things ticking over with his usual selfless team play. Score was 43-13 at the short horn.
Phoenix didn’t lie down though, and despite being short their best player from the first game, kept slugging it out, P Corr & M Dmitrov connecting on a few treys to keep things interesting. But even with making wholesale 5 on/ 5off changes, Star kept their foot on the pedal, and it was great – and important – to see the players the whole way across the team posting great individual performances, and a few like Kamil Kolos and Daniel Hackett playing their best game of the season. Phoenix just couldn’t do much with the juggernaut coming at them, and Star closed the 4th Quarter off 23-4, making the final scoreline 85-30, a great performance.
The team responded to the challenge the coaching staff put to them at training following the previous two wishy-washy performances, and hopefully they can build on this as they head off for back-to-back away fixtures in Monaghan and Donegal. For the first time the team showed that they can play without relying heavily on the scoring of John Smye, as he was intentionally spared in this game to keep him fresh for the upcoming all-Ireland school game this week. The scoring load was evenly distributed across the team, with 6 other players chipping in between 8 & 18 points, Michael McWilliams top-scoring with the 18. But when this Star team play like this, it will be difficult for any team in the league to live with them, and with Eoin Nagle, Ethan Gibson & John Moran driving things in the back-court, Star’s 3 ‘bigs’ McWilliams, McGinnity & Kolos dominating the paint, and Le John and Kawhi Henvey playing at their customary high level, the team is in good shape to develop as planned.
