St. Mary’s Basketball Club has, after five days, wrapped up yet another successful tournament.
By Liz Galwey PRO
Special awards were presented to Tommy O’Mahony in recognition of his success with the Irish U-U-18 women’s team and also to Adam Donoghue and Lorraine Scanlon for their football achievements during the year.
Local Derby for Premier Final
The highlight of the event was the Munster Joinery Premier Men’s Final which was a local derby between Garvey’s Warriors and Scott’s Lakers.
The teams tipped off in front of a packed house. Lakers were worthy opponents and held the lead for the first half of the game.
Just before the interval, Warriors Trae Pemberton sank a three and he opened the second half with two more to put Warriors ahead for the first time in the game.
Lakers fought back and there was nothing in it up to the final minutes. Warriors gradually pulled away as the clock ran down and retained the title – which had been their first big win last season.
Final score: Garvey’s Warriors 48 – Scott’s Lakers St. Paul’s 41
MVP: Trae Pemberton
Senior N.S. Girls B: Scoil Ide V Gael Scoil Aogáin Dubh
Gaelscoil Aogain’s Rebecca Reidy was first to register a score in the Senior Girls B Final.
Ciara Cronin hit a basket for Scoil Ide but Aine Ni Mhurchú responded for the Gael Scoil to leave the half time score at four points to two.
Scoil Ide had a good height advantage but Gaelscoil Aogáin was the stronger side. The team members were also clever in their passing and accurate with shots.
They had strength in Rebecca Ni Riada, Blathnaid Ni Chathasaig and Aine Ni Mhurchu to name but a few.
Ciara Cronin, Mary Kate Culhane and Kerry Costello were strong for Scoile Ide but on the day it was Gaelscoil Aogáin which took the game.
Final Score: Scoil Ide 6 – Gael Scoil Aogáin Dubh 16.
MVP: Rebecca Ni Riada.
Junior N.S. Boys B: Scartaglen V Scoil Ide
As expected the pace was fast and the baskets were popping in easily for these boys.
The sides were level at six points each with 1.10 remaining in the first half and this remained the score at the interval.
Kyle Buckley was first to score for Scart while Jamie Kerins made two from the line for Scoil Ide. The second half was just as exciting with nothing separating the sides. With less than two minutes to go Scartaglen pushed ahead by two baskets and held their lead as the clock ran down.
Final Score: Scartaglen 14 – Scoil Ide 10.
MVP: Freddie Mahony.
Junior N.S. Girls: Scoil Nuachabháil V Gaelscoil Aogáin
A strong Gaelscoil Aogáin side took an early lead, Erin Ni Chonchúir winning most rebounds.
She made steals and forward passing to ensure her team mates: Deirdre Ní Mhuineacháin, Caitlyn Ni Swanser and Holly Ní hOráin secured the scores.
Sarah O’Rourke, Rosemary Lucid and Jill Quirke all made scores to bring Nuachabháil back into the game. The half time score was six points to eight in favour of Gaelscoil. Two quick scores Aishlinn Baily and Katie Hobbert put the Ballymac side ahead by a basket.
Scoil Nuachabháil reached 12 points but a determined Erin Ní Chonchúir drove to the board not once but twice to level with less than a minute to go. She went on to rebound and get the fast break to regain possession with 20 seconds on the clock.
A jump ball gave the opposition possession and a chance to equalise but again a rebound from Ní Chonchúir ensured that the game went to overtime.
Gaelscoil’s Holly Ní hOráin made the first in overtime and Maura Culloty responded. Ní hOráin hit another, the roars of the crowd spurred both sides on and with 25 seconds to go Gaelscoil led by two points and they held the lead to the end.
Final Score: Scoil Nuachabháil 14 – Gaelscoil Aogáin 16.
MVP: Holly Ní hOráin
Senior Ladies. St. Mary’s V Fr. Matthews.
It was a Kerry v Cork final in the top ladies competition which was basket for basket throughout.
Aoife Nolan shot the first six points for the home side while Amy Fitzgerald and Anna Lynch were first to put Matthews on the score sheet.
A closely contested first half left the sides level at 11 points each at the half time interval. St. Mary’s pushed ahead in the second half but allowed their opponents back in the latter stages.
Fr. Matthews narrowed the gap to two points as the clock ran down but a three from team captain Aoife Nolan secured the win for the home team.
Final Score: St. Mary’s 27 – Fr. Matthews 22.
MVP: Denise Dunlea
Division One Men: St. Mary’s V KCYMS
St. Mary’s took an early lead in the second last final of the evening but allowed KCYMS back into the game.
The home club led 22 points to 17 at the interval and held their lead throughout the second half. They home side led by seven with a minute and a half to go. Adam Donoghue increased this by one from the free through line. A basket from Conor Flynn brought it back to five points and they added another with three seconds to go. KCYMS were in foul trouble and Daniel O’Shea made one from two at the line to secure the win.
Final score St. Mary’s 34 – KCYMS 30.
MVP: Adam Donoghue.
Division 5 Men: Team Oompa Loompas V The Hill
A family affair as the Murphy’s who came in from Australia, Dublin and Tralee were joined by friends in an attempt to secure the title that they had come so close to winning two years ago.
Their opponents were the O’Callaghan brother builders and friends from Castleisland. It was a low scoring first half as both side found it difficult to find the target. The locals led by a point at half time.
The Oompa Loompas pushed ahead in the early part of the second half but a three brought it back to a three point game with 2.55 on the clock.
Another score from The Hill saw just a point between the sides. Ciaran O’Callaghan sank one from the free throw line to but his side gave possession away shortly after and The Hill used the clock wisely to level. The Castleisland boys had possession as the clock ran down and a score on the buzzer from O’Callaghan sealed the win for them.
Final Score: Oompa Loompas 18 – The Hill 16
MVP: Shane O’Loughlin.
Fixture:
St.Mary’s Senior Ladies in Action in Cork
The St. Mary’s senior ladies will play the semi final of the NICC women’s cup this weekend. They meet Maree at 12 noon on Saturday in Neptune stadium.
You can contact The Maine Valley Post on… Anyone in The Maine Valley Post catchment area who would like to send us news and captioned photographs for inclusion can send them to: jreidy@mainevalleypost.com Queries about advertising and any other matters regarding The Maine Valley Post can also be sent to that address or just ring: 087 23 59 467. Please Note: A click on any of our adverts will reveal all you need to know about what our advertisers need to tell you.
© Copyright Notice: All materials and artwork contained on this website are copyrighted by the creators under the protection of Irish and International Copyright Laws.
Material may not be downloaded, copied or used without written permission.