Patrick Robinson shot 35 points to earn the MVP award yesterday evening and get revenge for the Cork men following their National Cup decider defeat to Killester in January.
The New Jersey native’s efforts powered the club to a ninth league title following a tense affair in Tallaght.
The 25-year-old guard said this victory made his decision to join Demons this season “the greatest move of my life” after a win which was made all the sweeter by avenging their recent cup defeat.
“It makes it feel even better. I mean sometimes you need a tough loss to make people respect the grind and get back to work” said Robinson. “That’s what we did. We thought about it for a few month and came back here and it was a different story.”
Killester’s captain Ciarán Roe got his side off to a flyer with three three-pointers in the first quarter, but Demons soon began to reel them in.
The Cork side’s Blake Murphy was hit with an unsportsmanlike foul following a heated altercation, which gave the game an added spark.
Robinson began to feed off that added spice and scored 11 points of his tally in the first period as Demons trailed Killester 26-24 heading into the second period. It was level (49-49) by half-time.
It remained a tight in the second half and there was worrying moment for Demons when their six-foot-eight centre Elijah Tillman limped off following an awkward fall.
He returned to action however and his US compatriot Robinson had the winning of it with a last-gasp two-pointer with 24 seconds remaining.
The Killester team celebrate after the Women’s Super League final. Photo: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Earlier, Killester successfully defended their women’s title with a 83-63 Super League final win over St Paul’s of Killarney in Tallaght.
American guard Samantha Haiby led the scorers with 22 points, but there was also significant contributions from MVP Destiny Strother (20) and captain Michelle Clarke (17).
For Clarke, victory made up for January’s final defeat to Liffey Celtics, who denied the Dublin club a men’s and women’s double in the cup.
“I couldn’t be happier. We righted a wrong that we left behind in January. We have the talent but we just need to match it with a work effort and we did that today,” she said.
“I think it’s a family club that supports one another. Our women’s team was supporting our men and they support us.”
Mathilde Diop caused early problems near the basket for Killester, with the Senegalese international scoring six points in the first quarter for the Kerry women.
Clarke began to assert control by shooting 14 points by half-time to see her side enjoy a 38-33 advantage at the break.
St Paul’s supporters outnumbered their Dublin counterparts at tip off but they would gradually grow more silent the gulf between the two sides only grew.
Siofra O’Shea would come on in the third quarter following her Ladies Division 1 triumph with Kerry in Croke Park on Saturday, but she couldn’t stop the Killester tide.
The men’s final was another story.