Team Tom McCarthy’s St. Mary’s secured their first league win at the weekend in a thriller of a game against U.L. Huskies.
By: Liz Galwey, PRO
Castleisland Community Centre was packed for the first home game of the season which was sponsored by Garvey’s SuperValu and the standard of basketball did not disappoint.
Visitors Opened Scoring
The visitors opened the scoring but it did not take St. Mary’s long to step up. Aoife Nolan, assisted by Lorraine Scanlon was first to register for the home side. The Limerick side intercepted a lot of passes in the early stages but they got no second chances when it came to registering scores as Tom McCarthy’s captain, Lorraine Scanlon won everything under the boards.
Great Team Work
Some great team work between Deirdre Geaney, Cassandra Buckley and Denise Dunlea saw the home side lead 17 points to 10 at the end of the first quarter.
U.L. stepped up their game in the second quarter and St. Mary’s had some costly turnovers. A three from Cassandra Buckley saw the home side lead by five mid-way through but U.L. had levelled by the half time interval.
Took Control
The Castleisland side took control again in the third quarter, Scanlon and Nolan were in fine shooting form but Huskies kept in touch. A three from Cassandra Buckley put Liam Culloty’s squad up seven but Huskies Abbey Goodwell responded in kind to reduce the gap once again.
The final 10 minutes was intense as the sides went basket for basket.
St. Mary’s kept their lead and were by seven points up with 41 seconds to go when Orlaith Woods and Abbey Goodsell hit seven points between them to level.
Netted Both to Win
St. Mary’s had possession when Cassandra Buckley was sent to the line, just one second remained on the clock. She netted both to secure the first league win for Team Tom McCarthy’s.
Coach Liam Culloty was delighted with the win. He said he was pleased with the girls performance.
“When we played as a team we drove ahead. We were sloppy at times in terms of organisation and this cost us,”he said.
He praised the performance of Cassandra Buckley and noted how well Deirdre Geaney and Lorraine Scanlon worked as a team.
Team Tom McCarthy’s tip off against Maree in Oranmore on Saturday October 20th at 7.30pm.
Teams and Scorers
Team Tom McCarthy’s St. Mary’s 65 – U.L. Huskies 63
St. Mary’s: Lorraine Scanlon 19, Cassandra Buckley 13, Aoife Nolan 10, Deirdre Geaney 9, Denise Dunlea 7, Mary Herlihy 5, Cliona Coffey 2, Orla White, Labhaoise Wamsley, Sarah O’Sullivan and Roisín Casey.
U.L. Huskies: Abbey Goodsell 21, Katie Whelan 13, Abbey Jeffery 10, Orlaith Woods 9, Meghan Buckley 4, Niamh Brady and Jane Clohessey 2 each, Sinead Nihill and Niamh Lynch 1 each, Avril Crosse, Fiona O’Connell and Aoife O’Connell.
Closing Date for Blitz Entries
Closing date for the St. Mary’s 49th annual Christmas blitz is October 31st.
To enter contact Donal O’Connor on 0876984941, call to Vincent Murphy Sports or email stmarysbball@hotmail.com
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