St. Flannan’s College bring home All-Ireland Under 19C Girls Schools Cup after seeing off Avondale CC

St. Flannan’s College served up a superb defensive display to earn a 36-22 triumph over Avondale Community College when the two sides clashed in Thursday’s All-Ireland Under 19C Girls Schools Cup Final in the National Basketball Arena.

Ava McGuane led the way under the boards for the Ennis side and combined with Ava Guthrie for 24 points on the day, while Saoirse Conway, on 10, also produced an excellent performance that earned her the game MVA accolade.

An early deuce by Martina Villanueva and one from the free-throw line by Martina Soler marked an encouraging start to this game for Avondale.

But St. Flannan’s hit back with nine unanswered points, Guthrie serving up buckets either side of one from Conway after McGuane had opened the Clare side’s account.

Avondale captain, Grace Henkel arrested that run with a superb effort from beyond the arc, but Guthrie had the final say for St. Flannan’s in the opening quarter with a deuce that left them 11-6 to the good.

Soler and Guthrie swapped points early in the second, but while another Conway bucket pushed Flannan’s lead out to seven, their Wicklow rivals cut that gap to three (17-14) by the half-time interval, Soler and Bea Clancy getting some return on the inside.

Avondale maintained that momentum heading into the second half, Henkel getting in to see her side overtake by a point.

But St. Flannan’s regained their composure and a six-point surge, that included scores from Conway, McGuane and Eimear Lynch, had the Clare side back in the driving seat.

Carrying a six-point cushion into the fourth, St. Flannan’s pushed that out to 13 as Avondale found it increasingly difficult to navigate their way through the opposing defence, McGuane continuing to prove a towering presence under the boards for the Ennis side.

Villanueva did finally get Avondale going again with one from the free-throw line, but they still needed to recoup 12 more points and had only three-and-half minutes to do it.

There was no faulting the Wicklow side’s work rate, but St. Flannan’s only copper-fastened their grip on this decider when McGuane served up a sublime reverse layup in the closing minute of action.

“The girls have finally had their break-out year” said St. Flannan’s College head coach, Darren Scully.

“We’ve lost regional final after regional final, but this year, at Under 19, we finally went on and won regional gold and we took a lot of confidence from that.

“A lot of these girls are sixth years and we knew we had to do something special with them. This All-Ireland will mean a lot to the school and to the town of Ennis” he smiled.

Quarter Scores: Q1: 6-11, Q2: 14-17, Q3: 21-27, Q4: 22-36

Avondale Community College:

Erin Doyle, Bea Clancy, Tegan Walsh, Rebecca Murphy, Martina Villanueva, Marta Roca Gancedo, Louise Murphy, Alanna Doyle, Grace Henkel (capt), Martina Soler, Claire Fleming.

Top Scorers: Martina Soler (8), Grace Henkel (7), Martina Villanueva (5).

Head Coach: Caitriona Hannafin

St. Flannan’s College:

Covenant Joy Fitzgerald, Alyah Maguire, Nada Abdelaal, Claire Sweeney (capt), Sarah McNamara, Chloe McArdle, Saoirse Conway, Kiya Healy (co-capt), Eimear Lynch, Aine Omoifo, Yassmine Taouil, Ava Guthrie, Ava McGuane.

Top Scorers: Ava Guthrie (12), Ava McGuane (12), Saoirse Conway (10).

Head Coach: Darren Scully

MVP: Saoirse Conway (St. Flannan’s College)