Hartstown CS storm to All-Ireland Under 16C Boys Schools League title at expense of gallant St. Peter’s College

Big first and fourth quarter surges propelled Hartstown CS to this year’s All-Ireland Under 16C Boys Schools League title at the expense of a battling St. Peter’s College whom they beat 73-44 in the National Basketball Arena on Monday.

Bentoy Monshengwo wasted little time in proving a real headache for St. Peter’s, with the Hartstown player putting up 13 points in the opening quarter before increasing his tally to 20 by the half-time break.

Co-captains David Dron and Bartas Jocas were also making their presence felt as Hartstown opened up an 11-point advantage by the close of the first quarter.

The 14 points that David Cummings contributed kept St. Peter’s in touch and the Wexford side did managed get to grips with their opponents defensively in the second quarter, matching the 13 points that they put up in that period.

Jocas drained two buckets early in the third to push Hartstown’s lead out to 15, but Cummings and Deon Fakinle responded for St. Peter’s.

Still the Wexford outfit was not recouping enough ground, and instead, two free throws from Jocas, together with scores from Dron and Meyal Monshengwo, saw Hartstown take a 14-point cushion into the final quarter.

And they copper-fastened their hold on this title match, as two big threes from Jocas ignited a run of 15 points for Hartstown in which he accounted for 11, with Dron and Bentoy Monshengwo also contributing, to see their side run out comfortable winners.

“Everyone who played was amazing” said Hartstown CS head coach, Cormac Divilly. “I can’t fault any of them. They’re an incredible group of lads.

“They’ve been training since September, three times a week and it’s paid off massively.

“We were ‘D’ three years ago and we lost the shield final, which was the school’s first ever basketball final, so this is a massive achievement for the school” he said.

Quarter Scores: Q1: 17-28, Q2: 30-41, Q3: 38-52 , Q4: 44-73

St Peter’s College:

Joseph Thomas, Cameron Shiel, Donatas Budrys, Cian Fedorca, Bobby Rackard, Caleb O’Kane, Dylan Casey, Adam Carney (Co-Capt), Deon Fakinle (Co-Capt),  Ramiel Magbanua, Elijah Page-Redmond, David Cummings.

Head Coach:  Catriona O’Brien

Top Scorers: Deon Fakinle (17), David Cummings (16), Adam Carney (5)

 

Hartstown CS:

Zakhar Karasava, Meyal Monshengwo, Alex Sinauceanu, Jaycee Tubaldoo, Ghirome Paat, Bentoy Monshengwo, Sam Ogungbe, Alex Redican, David Dron (Co-Capt), Bartas Jocas (Co-Capt).

Head Coach: Cormac Divilly

Top Scorers: Bentoy Monshengwo (24), Bartas Jocas (24), David Dron (17) 

MVP:  Bartas Jocas (Hartstown CS)