Ireland advance to 9-16th classification round at FIBA U16 Women's Youth EuroBasket

Ireland have advanced to the 9-16th classification bracket at FIBA U16 Women's Youth EuroBasket following a third place finish in 'Group C' with a 2-2 record. An agonising three-point loss to Slovakia, during which the buzzer ruled out an Aoibheann Donnelly shot to send the game to overtime, is all that seperated this group from becoming the first Irish side to reach the top eight in this category since 2016.  

They will now face Bulgaria in their first game of the classification round. The Bulgarians finished in fourth place in 'Group D' - which contained two teams Ireland have beaten already this season - Netherlands and Luxembourg. Bulgaria enter this round with a 1-3 record. That win coming in a 82-49 success over the aforementioned Luxembourg. 

Paul O'Brien's side finish the group phase with the third ranked defense in FIBA Youth EuroBasket in points against - while also ranking inside the top ten in points per game, field goal percentage, rebounds, blocks, assists, steals and efficiency. Captain Aoibheann Donnelly (Belfast Star) is leading by example - topping the charts in points per game (12), rebounds per game (6.8) and assists (2.3) for her team. Muireann Teahan is close behind her with 9.3ppg and 5.8rpg, while Abbie Lyons has also been a hot hand, averaging 8.5 points per game along with two assists. 

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This has been a true squad performance in every sense of the word though. The entire bench is averaging at least 9 minutes on the floor per game, gaining valuable experience at this level at it has shown when coach O'Brien has needed to turn to certain players in game specific situations. Two large margain wins in the group phase against Ukraine, 67-30 and Kosovo, 92-34 proved this group have the ability to take over a game when given the chance, but he will be equally proud of their efforts in that 63-60 loss to Slovakia - when Ireland's opponents weren't coming off a game 24 hours earlier - and against one of three unbeaten outfits left in the competition Turkey, who Ireland gave all they could handle in a 61-50 loss on the final day. 

"We are incredibly proud of how we performed in the group and are looking forward to the classification part of the tournament," said head coach Paul O'Brien. "If a couple of things go differently in the Slovakia game, we are in the top 8 and we gave Turkey all they could handle. The girls have been amazing so far and I am really excited for our last three games."

You can watch Ireland v Bulgaria from 19:30 on Thursday on the Basketball Ireland website.