U-18 Men’s Cup: St. Mary’s v St. Brendan’s
A strong St. Brendan’s side travelled to Castleisland with just five players for the semi-final of the U-18 men’s cup.
By Liz Galwey
They were both disciplined and focused on the night and came away having secured a place in the cup final in what was a high scoring game.
The visitors registered the first score of the game and two minutes in Adam Manley responded for St. Mary’s.
Defensive Rebounds
Adam O’Donoghue made some great defensive rebounds for the home team preventing St. Brendan’s from getting any second chances and with just three minutes to go in the first quarter the sides were level at 10 points apiece.
Scores from Adam O’Donoghue, Gary O’Sullivan and Greg Curran put St. Mary’s ahead 16 points to 13 with 38 seconds on the clock.
But St. Brendan’s Aaron Fleming nailed a three in the final five seconds to leave the sides level at 16 points at the end of the first.
Tralee Boys Forge Ahead
Dominic Craig opened the second quarter with a three for St. Brendan’s and Lawerence Guardiano added two points to push the Tralee boys further ahead.
St. Mary’s Gary O’Sullivan narrowed the gap with a three.
St. Brendan’s went on to increase the lead to nine points by mid way in the quarter but over the next 90 seconds St. Mary’s made a huge comeback hitting 11 unanswered points.
It was four minutes in before Steven Bowler brought St. Brendan’s back into the game.
Sheehy’s Steal
This pushed them ahead by three again with less than a minute to the half time interval. Bowler increased the lead by another point before Castleisland’s Joe Sheehy made a steal to set Adam Manley up for a basket to bring it back to a two point game again.
A free throw from Aaron Fleming gave St Brendan’s a three point lead going in to the third period.
Increased Their Lead
St. Mary’s opened strong in the third quarter but St. Brendan’s held on to their lead. St. Mary’s had some turnovers which cost them.
St. Brendan’s had increased their lead to 13 by the end of the third the quarter. They continued to push ahead as the final quarter progressed and went on to book their place in the final.
Final score: St. Mary’s 54 – St. Brendan’s 76.
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