Maree Basketball Club have won the National League’s division one southern conference, finishing two points clear of nearest rivals Team Garvey’s St Mary’s of Castleisland.
In only their second season in the National League, the young Oranmore-Maree based team will now enjoy home court advantage in the semi-final, and could face local opponents Galway Titans who must play Tolka Rovers. On the other side of the draw, Ballon, the Northern Conference champions, will be home to the winner of the clash between St Mary’s and Portlaoise.
Maree finished the regular season with a record of 11 wins and three losses, but by the last game, which they lost to Castleisland, they had already secured the Southern Conference title having recorded a 85 – 59 win over Ballina the previous evening.
Winning the Conference title was a significant achievement for Maree, with injury depriving them of starting centre Sarunas Zvirblinskas for the last three games, and limiting their one genuine big man, 6’7” Linas Mitkus, to a handful of appearances. The starting Maree five who hit the floor against Liam McHale’s Ballina boasted an average age of 20, with Danny Finn the “veteran” at just 23.
Saturday night’s game against Ballina was one of Maree’s most comfortable in a long MNL campaign. Ahead 50-29 at the half, and 7-41 with just the fourth quarter to go, they eased to an 85-59 victory. Tomas Mitkus recorded a team-high 23 points, while Liam Conroy was good for eight assists and four steals, while Darren Callanan pulled down seven rebounds.
