Congratulations to all three schools which made the All-Ireland finals. Ulidia won their final against St. Aloysius College while St Malachy’s and St Columb’s had very exciting games which were decided in the last seconds. Below are reports from various sources which are listed above the game report.
Ulidia Integrated Colleges report
Ulidia Integrated claimed the U19C Girls Cup on their return to All-Ireland basketball with a 68-49 win over St. Aloysius College, Co. Cork.
Ulidia Integrated were in double digits before St. Aloysius had scored from open play. Michelle Courts had the first two baskets of the day before the sororal duo of Anna and Enya Maguire hit their scoring groove. The Ulidia students were pushing the ball with precision and pace and were in control leading 16-9 after 10 minutes.
What St Aloysius had was guts. Through sheer work rate they created opportunities for Sorcha Phelan and Jessica O’Neill. Their efforts were causing foul trouble for Ulidia and allowing Niamh Murphy and Ciara O’Doherty to pick off points from the free throw line.
Ulidia were still shooting themselves clear of trouble, Enya Maguire crabbed left to drain a three-pointer before quick thinking off the inbound allowed Grainne Twomey to reduce the gap to 33-19 at half time.
St Aloysius couldn’t contain Ulidia early in the third quarter. Grace Kennedy was heating up before the Maguire sisters made big threes. Suddenly, St. Aloysius starting launching the ball and making gains in transition. Jessica O’Neill pulled up before the buzzer to hit a jump shot at the elbow. With 7:40 left in the game they had reduced the deficit from 28 points back to 16.
Coach Gareth Maguire knew the game wasn’t over and called a time out and Grace Kennedy’s role in the response earned her th
e MVP award.
Ulidia Integrated College: Enya Maguire 23, Anna Maguire 16, Grace Kennedy 10, Lauren McDowell, Michelle Courts 10. Substitutes: Emma McGuinness, Phoebe Cochrane, Alice McQuillan
St Malachys College V Colaiste Phadraig Lucan
Reported by Stephen Leonard of the Lucan Echo
COlÁISTE Phádraig Lucan are the Subway All-Ireland Under 16A Boys Basketball Cup champions following a thrilling 45-44 win over St Malachy’s College of Belfast in the National Basketball Arena on Monday.
MVP Kris Arcilla shook off a stomach bug to hit, what proved to be the game-winner, but there was still plenty of time for drama before the final buzzer.
“I’ve had a few matches like that over the year’s but that one takes the biscuit,” said winning Coach David Gray.
St Malachy’s took longer to settle and were 4-0 down before Peter Henvey and Conor Cooke gave them the lead for the first time.
By then the Lucan boys had set out their stall with electric guard play, hard work under the basket and a scoring touch from Samuel Mohamed.
Malachy’s earned a 9-8 lead with the last basket of the quarter – a deft assist from Jack Summersgill freeing up Cooke for a lay-up.
Coláiste Phádraig put up the first significant run of the game to turn a three-point deficit into a six-point lead in the second quarter.
Max Amadasun was dominant with blocks and rebounds, forcing St. Malachy’s to withdraw to the perimeter in search of open looks.
CJ Fulton made it count with a deep-two and a triple to snap the run. Arcilla’s electric pace was yielding free-throw oppor-tunities and the young point guard gave CPL a 19-17 lead for the half.
Malachy’s demonstrated a more patient approach in the third quarter. Conor Ryan hit an open three-pointer for a five point lead.
Coláiste Phádraig trailed by three heading into the final quarter and leveled the game with five minutes left through control on the offensive boards and a fast break from Kabir Akanbi.
Malachy’s appeared to have found another gear when Niall McGinnity upped the ante on defense and Fulton hit a nerveless buzzer beater.
But they were sooned pegged back by Akanbi’s deep two and Arcilla made it 45-44 with six seconds remaining.
A monster block from Amadasun rejected Malachy’s first attempt at a game winner. They thought they had done it when Matthew Mulholland found the net but his last-gasp attempt was a fraction too late.
St Columb’s College V Castleisland C.C
Report by Simon Collins of the Derry Journal
It was a two-possession game throughout the 40 minutes and the sides were still level with less than one minute remaining.
St Columb’s looked to penetrate more in the second period with Jack Knox making gains while Castleisland were happy to lurk at the perimeter. They book ended the quarter with three-pointers from Alex Fleming and Padraig O’Connell and Shane O’Connell took his tally to eight points for the half on a 9-4 run.
It was 20-20 at the break and the sides were still tied at 32-32 10 minutes later. Ireland U16 International Ryan Whoriskey came into the game with a couple of baskets while Castleisland’s usual suspects kept them in the hunt. It was a game of small margins, so it was going to take some big shots to win it.
Nathan Nolan’s big three-pointer had game winner all over it but there was still time for St. Columb’s to hit back through Coyle and Whoriskey.