ORANMORE CLAIM THIRD CROWN IN A ROW
2nd Feb 2010
U19 A Girls All Ireland Schools Cup Finals
Calasanctius Oranmore 68 (40) (A O’Reilly 20, C Foley 19, C Newell 13) St. Joseph’s Abbeyfeale 57 (21) (L Scanlon 21, E Dillon 14, E Scanlon 10)
MVP; Lorraine Scanlon (St. Joseph’s Abbeyfeale)
Abbeyfeale lost the contest to the Galways girls but it wasn’t for the want of trying in this afternoons Under 19a Schools cup decider at the National Basketball Arena.
Abbeyfeale beaten narrowly in last seasons Under 16 decider made a real go of it in the final quarter with Eibhlis Dillon shooting a series of three pointers in the final quarter to keep the pressure on Calasanctius.
But Oranmores experience showed with Ciara Newell making some vital baskets heading down to the stretch to hand Calasanctius their third successive cup title.
It was a feat last achieved by Marie OTooles girls in the nineties and afterwards Newell posed happily alongside team captain, Carol McCarthy, Kate Lyons, Catriona Foley and Ciara Reynolds in a photo to mark the fab fours fantastic achievement of claiming a hat-trick of titles.
However Abbeyfeale did not leave the National Basketball Arena empty handed with Lorraine Scanlon capturing the ‘MVP’ award following game stats of 21 points and a phenomenal 27 rebounds.
Oranmore were on fire in the first quarter as they racked up a massive 31-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Employing a 3-2 zone, Oranmore had stolen in for a series of early lay-ups from Foley, Ailish OReilly and McCarthy whose terrific three pointer really put the cat amongst pigeons.
St Josephs proved game opponents in the second with Rachel Collins driving her team on from the base of the court.
And although Scanlon made some ground on the inside, Abbeyfeale were still left with a lot to do at the break, 40-21 to Oranmore at the break.
And with Kate Lyons showing terrific defence for Oranmore on the back court, Abbeyfeale were still left with an awful lot to do as they trailed 53-37 heading into the final period.
And with Ailish OReilly leading a blitz on the Abbeyfeale boards, the Kerry girls’ cause looked lost midway through the final quarter.
However with five minutes to go, Dillon made her entrance as she shot a succession of three pointers to put an entirely different complexion on the game.
Oranmores lead was now down to ten points 59-49 but two one point free throws from Foley and Newell ultimately took the sting out of the attack and despite a late three pointer from Eabnailt Scanlon, Oranmore closed the game down with a three point play from Newell.
