Belfast Star lost in heart-breaking fashion as an 88-85 home reversal at Newforge by Killester means they will not make the 2024/24 playoffs.
Head coach Sean Ingle spoke frankly in the immediate aftermath of the game:
“We are obviously gutted at the result and I felt we had the game in our hands at times but we switched off too many times and let them back into it.”
Ingle, who took over in November after the resignation of Rafi Olmassakian, pointed out that lapses in concentration have been a recurring theme during his tenure:
“We play so well for large portions of games then take our foot off the gas and you can’t do that against quality teams like Killester.”
However, the head coach believes there are positives to take into next season:
“I have always said we have an extremely talented roster but anyone in this league can beat anyone and we have been on the wrong end of too many close games which has ultimately cost us a shot at the playoffs.”
The hosts got off to a fast start against the side in second who had long-since secured their playoff berth. Max Cooper was particularly fast out of the blocks in this do-or-die game and helped his side out to an 8-0 lead. This was enough for Killester to call a timeout and it evidently worked as they sprung eight points of their own to tie the game. This turned out to be as close as they got in the first as Star continued to get to the rim and rack up the points. This is despite not getting a single three-pointer in the first 20 compared to five from the visitors. The away side’s scoring early on was led by Andrew McGeever and Isiah Dasher but Max Richardson kept them at arm’s length as the first quarter ended with a five-point lead at 22-17 in favour of the hosts.
Cooper had his range alright as he continued his scoring spree into the second with a pair of twos but it was Star head coach Ingle calling timeout three minutes after the restart thanks largely to Paul Dick and Kason Harrell eating into the lead. This seemed to have the desired effect as Star got some points from a trio of players who had yet to get on the board in the game. Captain Conor Quinn, Dre Jackson and Darweshi Hunter all added twos. Quinn finished the second with six points while Richardson tacked on more to stave off another pair of three pointers from that pairing of McGeever and Dasher which meant the lead was at five again at 43-38 at the midway point.
The Quinn twins were to the fore after the restart with Conor taking his side over the half-century mark before Aidan landed his side’s first three-pointer of the evening to open up a gap of seven which was their biggest of the night up to that point. Jackson and Hunter would also add a pair from downtown to cancel out threes from Dick and that man McGeever again but Harrell kept the scoreboard ticking over on the ‘Guests’ side which meant Star entered the final ten minutes ahead by only four.
The packed bleachers at Newforge were making plenty of noise as they tried to will their team over the line and into the playoffs. They were getting loud again early in the final period when their captain Conor Quinn drained a three of his own but the familiar faces of Harrell and Dasher also scored efforts from outside the circle as it was clear this nip-and-tuck affair would go down to the wire.
Despite Aidan Quinn launching two more long range balls for three, Star were finally pegged back when Harrell dispatched three points to tie the game at 76 points apiece with 04:50 on the clock. Things would get worse just seconds later when Farouq Raheem was fouled and hit both from the free-throw line for his first points of the night – and what a time to get them as he gave the men from north Dublin their first lead of the game. However, the drama was only beginning.
After Jackson had tied it, Raheem stepped up from the charity stripe again and was clutch once more despite the home fans’ attempts to put him off. With the deficit opening up to four and the seconds ticking down on their season, Star got desperate and some of that desperation paid off as Conor Quinn and Cooper put their bodies on the line to keep the ball alive and were rewarded when Jackson got the jump shot for two plus one from the free throw. The roof then nearly came off when Hunter sank a huge three with 01:11 left on the clock to put the home side up by a point.
This promoted another Killester timeout, during which the lights dimmed as somebody leaned on a light switch such was the crowd packed in looking for a vantage point. Sadly, that was some foreshadowing as the lights would soon go out on Star’s season as Raheem was a scurge again with a rebound to retake the lead before Harrell added to leave the deficit at three with just 15 seconds on the clock. An Ingle timeout set the scene for a Hollywood ending with Belfast needing a three with the last play to send this one to overtime but both Jackson and Cooper came up with nothing as the buzzer sounded signifying the start of an offseason of building for another playoff push next year.