THERE will be Galway representation at the cup finals extravaganza at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght this weekend after a brilliant final quarter fightback by Titans’ U-18s at the weekend prevented a whitewash for both the club, and Galway sides, in last four action.

The city-based club sent three teams to the semi-finals festival in Cork last weekend but both the U-20 and Division One men fell to defeat on Saturday, before the U-18s rescued a disappointing weekend with a brilliant Sunday morning win.

They will be back on the road this weekend as they head to Tallaght to take on Eanna of Dublin in the cup final, which gets the Saturday action underway at 11am.

There will be a second Galway side in finals action in the coming week, with Calasanctius College from Oranmore set to take on Mungret from Limerick in the U-19 A Girls’ school’s cup final in Dublin on Tuesday next (11am).

The majority of that squad are also part of the Maree U-18 side that was due to compete in the national cup semi-final last weekend, only for that competition to be put on hold pending an appeal by Tralee after the Kerry club was booted out of the competition. There has been no update this week on the status of that appeal.

PRESIDENT’S CUP

Titans 55

Portlaoise 67

Titans got off to a flyer in this Saturday night semi-final, a 12-point haul from Joseph Coughlan helping them into a 20-10 at the end of the first quarter, but their shooting soon let them down as they went just 9 for 26 from the free-throw line, and registered just two 3-pointers from 18 efforts as they slipped to a second defeat of the season to the Midlands side.

Panthers inflicted a first defeat of the season on the Galway side back in November, running riot in a 101-70 win in Portlaoise in the league, and the joint Division One leaders finally managed to get to grips with the Titans offence, holding them to just six points in the second quarter and nailing 18 of their own to take a 28-26 lead at half-time.

Titans did manage to edge back in front early in the third with scores from Mike Hayes and Fortune Igbokwe, but Portlaoise put together a nine-point run to take control; and while Hayes hit a couple of free-throws to stem the bleed, Panthers had found a hot hand and opened up a 13-point lead.

Titans dug deep and crucial scores from Coughlan and Irish U-18 captain, Declan Gbinigie, who drained a three, left Titans still in it, trailing 50-43 heading into the final quarter, but it could have been so much closer if they had hit better than four from 12 from the free-throw line.

They were just as poor in the final quarter, managing four from 10, and with Panthers able to keep a lid on the threat of Hayes – he managed just nine points, despite averaging more than three times that in the league this season – Titans struggled for traction.

They did get to within three points at one stage, but the Laois side made their greater firepower count: they went 76% from the free-throw line compared to 35% for Titans, and managed 21% with 3-point efforts compared to 11% for Titans to clinch a place in the final against fellow table-toppers, Limerick Celtics.

Titans: J Coughlan (14), M Hayes (9), D Gbinigie (11), M Sweeney (10), F Igbokwe (9), V Tashev, M Thiam (2), E Coughlan, B Powell.

Pictured: Matthew Sweeney of Titans on the attack against James Phelan of Portlaoise Panthers in the President’s National Cup semi-final in Cork on Saturday. Photo: Inpho/Bryan Keane