Dominant rebounding key to Mayo Meteors victory

Being back on home ground is always special for a sports team. For their last home match the Mayo Meteors had to move their venue to Tourmakeady due to water damage in De La Salle Castlebar. But last Saturday they were able to play on their home court again.  

Meteors player Alex Evans explained: “It's good to be back in Castlebar. It's where I'm from, I like playing in my hometown. It's a court we're familiar with. It's closer to all of us as well.

A respectable crowd witnessed a comfortable 71-46 win for the Meteors against Castlereagh. It was an historic occasion, as the Meteors had to manage without their head coach Terry Kennedy since he stepped back from the role for the foreseeable future. 

Kennedy was with the Castlebar-based outfit when the club was founded three years ago and has played a pivotal role in developing the roster using his experience and contacts in the basketball world. It was confirmed during last week, that Kennedy is stepping back from his duties for now, with Anthony McHale and player Daniel Nyland taking over on an interim basis.

READ: Mayo Meteors confirm provisional departure of Terry Kennedy

“First game without Terry, it wasn't too bad. Definitely something to get used to, but Anthony has been around the game a long time as well,” Evans stated.

“He knows a lot about the game, and Daniel as well, even for his young age. I don't think he watched anything other than basketball, so he knows what he sees out there.”

Even though the Mayo men were a bit rusty early in Saturday’s game, their dominance on the boards soon gave them a huge advantage.

The guests were missing their big man Joe Fleming which made it easier for the Meteors to make their presence inside pay off: “We have lots of big guys, so we kind of controlled the boards. Whatever we wanted to do inside, worked for us, although we did miss a few lay-ups,” Evans summarised.

The Meteors went into full-court press and then changed things up, played man coverage and then some zone. Their defensive rotation was spot on and made it hard on Castlereagh to get open looks. 

Evans pointed out that all 12 players on the roster got valuable minutes on court. The Meteors were able to give their rookies a first taste of senior basketball. A big day for underage players Sean Quinn, Matthew O'Malley and Jack Diffily. The scoring was evenly distributed among the Mayo Meteors players: Leading scorers were wing Conor Bermingham with 14 points and Center Colm Hegarty at 12.

The Meteors have a bye this weekend, before they face off with their Mayo neighbours Ballina in the Basketball Ireland Development League on November 23. 

READ: Mayo Meteors continue their rise to the top