Schools

Mar 03 2022

Two U16A Schools League titles for Calasanctius College, U19 success for Mercy Waterford and Coláiste Éanna

The was double Schools League Cup joy for Galway’s Calasanctius College, winning the U16A Boys and U16A Girls titles at the National Basketball Arena on Thursday. The U19A Girls title was won by Mercy Waterford and the U19A Boys Schools League trophy went to Dublin side Coláiste Éanna.

The U16A Girls Schools League final was a thriller, which Calasanctius College won thanks to two nerveless free throws by Laoise Quinn following a foul on the final buzzer, to claim a 60-59 overtime win.

The game was in the balance throughout, with the lead exchanged multiple times and was level at 29-29 at half-time. Regina Mundi captain Ava Walshe forced overtime when she scored an excellently executed three point jump shot with 41 seconds to go.

The game’s pattern continued in overtime with the lead swapping multiple times. Aisling Coakley’s layup gave Regina Mundi at 59-58 lead with just 15 seconds to go, before a foul on the buzzer handed Calasanctius College a chance to win it and Quinn kept her composure to secure the title.

Quinn finished as her team’s top scorer on 22 points, claiming the MVP award in the process, with Aisling Jordan on 15 and Jessica Ross on 8. Regina Mundi’s Ava Walsh had a 28-point performance, and their other top scorers were Aisling Coakley (10) and Lucie Healy (8).

Calasanctius College’s U16A Boys also had a narrow win, defeating Kerry’s SPSL Rathmore 50-48. There was little between the sides in the opening two quarters, just a point at separated them half-time, with the Galway side 29-28 in front.

Calasanctius College opened up a nine point advantage with 2’35 to go in the third quarter following Alvin Olagemi’s layup. An outrageous three point jump shot by John Hughes on the buzzer at the end of the third pulled SPSL Rathmore back into it, as they trailed 41-37 going into the 4^th quarter.

With 2’08 to go the game was level at 47-47, following Conor Moynihan’s layup. The winning points came with 6.3 seconds to go with Tiernan Keane’s layup. He also drew a foul and added the extras to go 50-47 up. Kerry’s SPSL Rathmore picked up two free throws, converting one. With 3.9 seconds to go they had one last roll of the dice, John Hughes went for a three point jump shot from the corner, which didn’t land and Calasanctius College clung on to win. Calasanctius College's Alvin Olagemi was awarded the MVP, after his 15 point performance.

Alvin Olagemi of Calasanctius College is presented the MVP by Basketball Ireland president PJ Reidy after the Basketball Ireland U16A Boys Schools League Final

In the first game of the day Sarah Hickey inspired Mercy Waterford to success in the U19A Girls Schools League final, beating Loreto Kilkenny 72-54. Hickey, who plays in the MissQuote.ie Super League for WIT Waterford Wildcats, demonstrated her talents with a 30 point haul on her way to picking up the deserved MVP award.

Sarah Hickey picked up 30 points for Mercy Waterford in the U19A Schools League final

Mercy Waterford, who are coached by WIT Waterford Wildcats head coach Tommy O’Mahony, opened up a 34-19 half-time lead. Loreto Kilkenny failed to make inroads in the second half, despite the best efforts of Lucy Coogan, another player plying her trade in the MissQuote.ie Super League, with IT Carlow Basketball. Coogan, who was also recently named in the Ireland U18 women’s squad scored 26 points, with Ruth Breen contributing 12 and Annah Doheny six for the side coached by Puff Summers, Ireland senior men’s assistant coach.

Caitlin Gloeckner, another in the Ireland U18 squad, scored 13 points for the winners, while Orla Dullaghan had 18 points.

The last game of the day saw Coláiste Éanna overcome St. Joseph’s (The Bish) 56-42. The sides were level at 10-10 at the end of the first, before a strong second quarter from the Dublin school saw them outscore their opponents by 20-4, to lead 30-14 by half-time.

Coláiste Éanna celebrate after their U19A Schools League final win

Nathan Comerford’s layup in the closing seconds of the third saw Coláiste Éanna ahead by 20 points, 45-25. St. Joseph’s did narrow deficit in the fourth, but the day belonged to Coláiste Éanna whose supporters flooed the court afterwards in celebration. Shanay Shah picked up MVP after he racked up 20 points, while Comerford finished with 15 points for the victors and Viktor Lovic had 12. For St. Joseph’s their offence was led by Joseph Coughlan (17), Cian Carroll (8) and Rory O’Sullivan 7.