Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk defeat Malahide Community School 55-39 in U16A Boys final

Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk claimed the U16A Boys title at the Pinergy All-Ireland Schools Cup finals, after a 55-39 win over Malahide Community School at the National Basketball Arena. Paddy Lane picked up the MVP after his 21 point performance, while Thomas Kennedy also caught the eye with an impressive 27 points for the victors. 

Malahide Community School started brightest and led 10-5 at the end of the opening quarter. It was a close affair in the second and level at 26 apiece going into the final minute of the second quarter, but four quick points, including a layup by Lane, in the dying seconds of the half made it 30-26 at the break to Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk. Lane registering 12 points by then, while Kennedy had 14. For Malahide Sean Morgan had a strong half, with 12 points. 

After claiming the @Pinergy Schools U16A Cup with @MounthawkMercy, we heard from head coach @coachdowling1 🏀📺 @warriors_bc pic.twitter.com/rqPLSN9Il5

— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) January 19, 2022

Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk led 40-28 midway through the third quarter, but a six point run from Malahide Community School saw them reduce the deficit to six, at 40-34, to force Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk to call a timeout. A lovely three from Thomas Kennedy in the final minute of the quarter extended the Kerry side’s advantage to nine, 43-34 and that’s how it would stay going into the final quarter. 

A layup from Ewan Dodds made it 45-39 with two and a half minutes gone in the final quarter, as Malahide looked to close up the gap. But thirty seconds later a big three from Kennedy extended the Kerry side’s lead to nine once more, 48-39. After a few scoreless minutes Kennedy once again came up trumps from the three point line, followed shortly afterwards by a Lane layup to make it 53-39 with 1’01 left on the clock, prompting a timeout call from Malahide Community School. But there was to be no dramatic comeback from the County Dublin school, a driving layup from Kennedy added further gloss to the scoreline, as Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk completed a 55-39 victory. 

Top scorers: 

Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk: Thomas Kennedy (27), Paddy Lane (21), Ryne Ibanez (6) 

Malahide Community School: Sean Morgan (12), Ewan Dodds (8), Andrew Moffet (8) 

Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk: Thomas Kennedy, Jake O’Carroll, Tom Long, Daniel Kirby, Sam Fitzgerald, Ben Murphy, Ryne Ybanez, Michael O’Connor, Paddy Lane, Tadhg Moran, Michael Savage, Sean Heaslip, Conor Galvin, Kevin O’Donoghue, Jamie Carroll Keane 

Malahide Community School: Rory Flannerey, Jack Collins, Alan Donaghy, Ewan Dodds, Yann Kapetangianns, Jack Brady, Lucas Keely, Cormac O’Brien, Andrew Moffet, Sean Morgan, Aaron Doyle.