Blackstone make cup exit

Blackstone went into this quarter final without regulars Harry McGarry, John McAuley and Arcadius Filipowski all out with injury problems and Gavin Gillan away with work commitments.

The slack was taken up by the club's under 19 players and the result was not inevitable but after a good first quarter they were out muscled in many areas of the court.

The Elks were too powerful below the basket and this was to dominate the second quarter of the game as the Elks outscored the visitors to Jordanstown by 17 points to 7.

The opening quarter saw a lively start from the Blackstone running through the Elks press to get scores from Dean Hillis and Aaron Brown.

Ex Blackstone forward Damian Gallagher was to open in the quarter with 6 points powering in to the basket for the Elks show no mercy on the boards to his former club.

Blackstone were finding their range with some close shots from Paul Gillan and Adam Hillis and shooting on sight off the screen Michael McDonald came up with a solid three pointer from the top.

Trailing by one at the end of the first spell, Blackstone lost their rhythm in offence and struggled to find a score in the second quarter. The Ballymena men were getting caught by a swing penetration move from the Elks and were too slow to close the gaps as Connor ODornan and Andy O'Hare got into the Blackstone key to draw the foul. Both converted from the line and then O'Dornan shot his second three of the game to open a 28–19 gap for the home team.

Peter McNicholl was fouled on penetration and went to the line for two and Paul Gillan came up with a big three but it was not enough as too many offences ended up with a turn over and no score. Elks opened a 35 – 24 gap at the half.

Dean Hillis got Blackstone off the ground with three lay ups on the break and was swift of foot throughout the game to shoot his team's top score of 17 points. Apart from his industrious defensive performance through out and his speedy attacking threat the Blackstone were not at ease from so many players in this game.

Too often the Elks were to dominate the key with Connelly and Gallagher posting up for easy forward moves to the basket. With the score at 56–40 after three successive score from Gallagher, Blackstone coach McKee was dismissed from the court after an exchange of words with one of the referees.

This was to kill the game off as Connor O'Dornan went to the free throw line to shoot 4 points from the Technical fouls on the coach. Adam Hillis went to the basket for 4 points to close the quarter but the gap was 65–41 and too much for the young team to claw back without their coach who finished the game away from the action.

The close of the game saw the Elks run their second 5 and the game went basket for basket until the end. Dean Hillis made an impact with his fast break but their was no way back into the cup for the Ballymena lads.

ULSTER DIVISION ONE

Blackstone II 83, Kilkeel LT 89: Blackstone hosted Kilkeel Lithuanians last Sunday in a very hard fought contest.

The return of Steven Clark was welcomed to give the home team some boards against a very big forward section of the Kilkeel team. The opening quarter saw the Kilkeel team use all of their superior height and weight to good effect opening a 15–25 lead. The Blackstone used their speed to good purpose getting their scores from Dean Hillis and Aaron Brown on the break and Michael McDonald supplied a three pointer at the close of the quarter to keep the home team in contention.

The second quarter saw the visitors open a 36–52 gap but the Blackstone showed some promise as Aaron Brown and Michael McDonald made penetrating moves to the basket through the Kilkeel Zone defence.

Brown did a particularly good job as he was against bigger and stronger rebounding opposition. They were fouled repeatedly and went to the line for 7 free throws on the trot. Both players with these scores cut back the gap only to have it extended as Surgiunas shot 5 three pointers from long range.

The third quarter saw the Kilkeel team put up a wall that forced the Blackstone players to shoot from long range and restricted them to 13 points.

Brown and Murray were on the line for 8 points and Gillan and Clarke made scores from the post but still the gap was extended as the big forwards from Kilkeel were hard to stop scoring from low on the key.

In the fourth quarter with a 49- 72 score line the Blackstone went to their press and turned the gap around as they outscored the visitors 34–19. Dean Hillis and Michael Sloan put a series of scores together on the break after getting steals from the full court press. The momentum was all with the home team as Kilkeel saw the score close to 6 points. Again Surgiunas was their saviour shooting 9 points on the trot.

At 80–83 the Blackstone defence fouled Grabauskas on a three point shot and sent him to the line to shoot all three. Michael Sloan made a two pointer going to the basket but again Grabauskas was to go to the free throw line to win the game.

This week, Blackstone play Elks on Sunday in the Premier league and travel to Craigavon on Friday in div One.