Pocevicius drives O’Carolan College to All-Ireland double in Under 19C Boys League Final victory over ERC Carrigaline

Gustas Pocevicius yet again lit up the court for O’Carolan College, amassing a colossal 40 points to help see his side complete an All-Ireland Schools double as they ran out 66-52 winners over a gritty ERC Carrigaline in Tuesday’s Under 19C League Final in the National Basketball Arena.

The O’Carolan captain, who had totalled 28 in their All-Ireland Cup Final win over Scoil Chaitríona last month, again proved irrepressible, despite the best efforts of ERC and Sam Ryan who, himself served up a weighty 22 points for the Cork side in this decider.

While O’Carolan did ship the opening score when Berwin Onakuse put the ball back at a second attempt, the Meath side did account for the next nine points as Joey Curtis and Eoin Gilsenan delivered from the paint before Pocevicius struck from beyond the arc.

Yet ERC regained their composure during a timeout and rocketed back with a triple three in the space of just over a minute from Eoghan Warren to move a point ahead before Gearoid O’Malley got in from the perimeter just ahead of the buzzer to see O’Carolan edge the opening quarter 15-14.

Carrigaline, however, moved back in front by six when Ryan served up two buckets from the floor along with three free throws.

That surge was arrested by an Andrew McGovern deuce for O’Carolan, and when Pocevicius followed his three with another inside score and two from the free-throw line, the Nobber side had edged back into the lead.

Ryan did get in for the final score of the first half to reduce the gap to two (27-29) by the half-time break, taking his first-half tally to 12, just three shy of the total that Pocevicius had put up for O’Carolan by that stage of the game.

The Meath side did manage to push their lead out to eight points with less than three minutes gone in the third quarter, Pocevicius landing a further three buckets, while O’Malley also punished on the fast break.

Ryan did get ERC going again with a timely three, only to see Pocevicius respond with interest down the other end to help widen the gap to 12, the O’Carolan talisman also delighting their supporters with a dunk.

Carrigaline still kept battling away and managed to slash that deficit in half (49-43) by the end of the third quarter as Ryan, Liam Walsh and Eoghan Warren all drained big shots from outside the arc.

But the Cork side needed to maintain that momentum heading into the final period, and, instead, it was O’Carolan who enjoyed the better start in the fourth, compliments of Pocevicius and O’Malley.

The former continued to torment the Carrigaline defence with his ability to steal and execute so ruthlessly, the O’Carolan skipper serving up a further 12 points down the stretch to cap a great day for himself and his team.

“When we set off on our journey at the start of the year, I knew we had a good team, but to do the double is just a fantastic achievement” said Jonathan Irwin, O’Carolan College head coach.

“We’ve been to this final in 2018 and 2019 and lost both of them, so to win it this time is really the monkey off the back.

“Carrigaline really tested us today. We built up a bit of a lead in the first quarter, but they dug deep and got it right back.

But Gustas is a once-in-a-lifetime player to get into your school and I’m just delighted to have had that privilege of coaching him” he smiled.

 

Quarter Scores: Q1: 14-15, Q2: 27-29, Q3: 43-49, Q4: 52-66

 

ERC Carrigaline:

Matthew Nyhan, Aaron Coleman, Cormac Fahy, Cian Aherne, Gustas Busila, Kodi Cassidy, Liam Walsh, Evan Onakuse, Ben Kiely, Berwin Onakuse (co-capt), Eoghan Warren (co-capt), Finn McCarthy, Jason O’Driscoll, Sam Ryan, Adam Leonard, Liam Davis.

Top Scorers: Sam Ryan (22), Eoghan Warren (12), Liam Walsh (11).

Head Coach: Ellie Leen

 

O’Carolan College:

Ciaran O’Hare, Gearoid O’Malley, Aaron Lanney, Gustas Pocevicius (capt), Eoin Gilsenan, Ronan Cassidy, Lukas Pocevicius, Daithi McGovern, Andrew McGovern, Leon McGovern, Joey Curtis, Diarmuid O’Malley, Sean Gillespie, Daire Lynch.

Top Scorers: Gustas Pocevicius (40), Gearoid O’Malley (14), Joey Curtis (6).

Head Coach: Jonathan Irwin

 

MVP:  Gustas Pocevicius (O’Carolan College)