Ireland U18 teams maintain unbeaten start at Four Nations tournament

Ireland U18 men have the chance to emulate their U16 counterparts by lifting the Four Nations trophy tomorrow. Convincing wins against Scotland and Wales have set up a winner take all clash with England at 9am tomorrow morning.

Ireland U18 women also have a 100% record heading into Thursday. They overcame the hosts 71-62 in Cardiff in their only contest of the day.

Tommy O’Mahony’s team were first to take the court this morning against Wales, recovering from an early 20-9 deficit to lead 39-33 at the break. Caoimhe Gilligan and Grace Prenter combined during a 7-0 run in the third quarter that proved to be the decisive blow of a 71-62 win. It was an excellent all-round performance that saw 10 of the 12 players get on the scoresheet. Captain Caitlin Gloeckner led the way with 22 points, while Ava Walshe, Orlagh Gormley and Gilligan excelled on the boards with 24 rebounds between them.

Speaking afterwards Waterford Wildcats ace Gloeckner said: “The team is feeling really good right now. We had a strong performance yesterday in a friendly against England and we wanted to build on that today and I feel we did that.” 

Ireland are back on the court at 11am tomorrow morning against Scotland before facing England in a potential Four Nations decider at 3pm.

The Ireland U18 men had an altogether more straightforward task, registering an 82-43 win over Scotland and seeing off Wales 83-41 just a few hours later. 

Scotland found it difficult to restrict Ireland’s offense early and it was obvious Paul Kelleher had targeted the three-point shot with his team. Ireland’s first seven scores came from beyond the arc as they raced to a 36-23 lead at the half. Ireland’s shooters continued to hit from range in the closing two quarters and finished with a smart 32% on 40 attempts from three. Four players Jack Kehoe, Harry Scully, Liam Price and Rory O’Flynn made it into double figures, while Declan Gbinigie 9 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and Daryl Cuff with 9 points and 6 assists also made telling contributions.

🗣️ “𝙒𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚”

Rory O’Flynn of @BallincolligB is keeping level headed as Ireland prepare for their next game against Wales shortly. #Greenmeansgo ☘️ | @AwmContractsLtd pic.twitter.com/cVGaWiHQBT

— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) April 12, 2023

Ireland picked up where they left off at the start of their clash with Wales, but tellingly playing a different style of basketball. There was less emphasis on the three-point shot and Paull Kelleher’s team instead used the size of Joshua Osayanrhion and Victor Okojie to dominate the paint. It led to a 37-19 advantage at the interval that only continued to grow in the second half. Team captain Aivaras Uosis got in on the act with a quick 7 points in the first four minutes of the third and that well and truly iced the game in a dominant 83-41 performance. Uosis topped the box score with 23 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, while an equally impressive Osayanrhion had 15 points and 14 rebounds by the final buzzer. 

Elsewhere on Wednesday, England’s teams started unbeaten with a 109-65 win over Wales men and a 60-33 victory against Scotland’s women respectively.

Results & Fixtures