International

Aug 18 2022

Heartbreak for Ireland U16 women in FIBA European Championship opener

Ireland U16 women suffered heartbreak in the final quarter after battling back gamely against Bosnia and Herzegovina in their opening game of the FIBA U16 Women’s European Championship.

A dominant third quarter performance had seen Ireland claw their way back from an eight-point deficit at the break, but they were just unable to wrestle the lead from their opponents for a prolonged period, as Bosnia held on by the skin of their teeth to win the opening game in Group A.

Both teams played with amazing accuracy at an incredible pace in the opening quarter, which would wind up in a stalemate, 19-19. The lead exchanged several times. Ireland played some sturdy defence to combine with a great shooting performance. East Cavan Eagles Emma Tolan was on fire, hitting her solitary three-point shot along with a lovely floater to give her team five points in the opening ten minutes. It is hard to single out one player though as this was a team effort, almost the entire bench got minutes in the first, with Shauna Curran, Caoimhe Gilligan, Aisling Moran and Tolan herself all proving effective on the boards.

As the half wore on, Bosnia began to assert themselves on defence. They created seven steals in the first-half, adding to 13 turnovers by Ireland to establish a 9-point lead when the teams returned to the changing room, 34-25. The resultant pressure by Bosnia meant Ireland found scoring harder to come by. The Bosnians went on a 10-0 run as a result and that appeared to put Ireland behind the eight-ball for the remainder of the game. Despite out rebounding their opposition in the first 20-minutes, something Irish sides don’t always achieve at major tournaments. It was a comeback mission on the cards for Andy Gill’s team in the second half.

The game of basketball is all about adjustments and credit the Irish coaching staff and players, they out worked, out shot and out thought Drago Karalic in the third quarter. Karolina Gierzsal went off for 7-points, including a marvellous three-point jumper with 3:45 on the clock to reduce the lead to five. She also contributed a steal and three offensive boards as Ireland wrestled all the momentum in the contest. The spread of scoring in this Irish side was evident. Shannon Quigley and Grace Prenter were a menace for their opposite numbers throughout and it was they who held their nerve from the free-throw line and on a driving layup to remarkably tie the game as they entered the final stanza.

Ireland couldn’t have gotten off to a better start in the fourth as Leah McMahon stepped up to the mark to drain a three-point shot and when Kelly Bracken made it a five-point lead inside sixty seconds, it looked as if Andy Gill and his crew were en-route to a famous win in Montenegro. However, Bosnia were about to show why they are one of the stronger outfits in this competition. With 4:45 left on the clock, Marija Vulic hit a shot to bring the sides level once more at 54-54. Ireland would only go on to score once more, a Caoimhe Gilligan free-throw with 42-seconds remaining. Bosnia tighten up their defence significantly and Ireland were just unable to make their shots.

It was a superb opening performance from the group though and bodes incredibly well for the rest of the group stages, starting with a tough game against The Netherlands tomorrow afternoon.