Helena Keane-inspired Meteors soar to 77-50 victory over Templeogue in Under 18 Women’s National Cup Final

A haul of 30 points and nine rebounds for Game MVP, Helena Keane went a long way to seeing Meteors emerge 77-50 winners over Templeogue in Monday’s Under 18 Women’s National Cup Final in the National Basketball Arena.

Andrea Chryslyn Jude and Kira Lynch combined for a further 29, as Meteors steadily pulled clear of their Dublin rivals, for whom Katie Behan served up 22 points and linked up with Sophie Gallagher for 20 rebounds.

It was Meteors who made the brighter start to this decider, as Stephanie Nnabuihe and Kaitlyn Summers struck in the paint before Keane converted from both sides of the arc to propel them 9-3 up.

Yet Templeogue responded with an eight-point run to overtake by two, as Lauren Neville, Sophie Gallagher and Behan all put the ball through the string.

But, while they pushed that lead out to four, Meteors regained some momentum to battle their way back into a 22-19 lead by the close of the first quarter, Riodhna McGrath serving up a sublime three with just six seconds remaining in that period.

Another strong start to the second quarter saw them open up an eight-point gap, Keane again inflicting some damage from both inside and downtown.

Timely threes by Eabha Booth and Behan kept Templeogue on their heels, but Meteors remained out in front, helped by buckets from Nnabuihe and Kira Lynch, along with a breakaway layup by Jude.

Liliyah Waters did drain two free throws for Templeogue, but her side continued to struggle with the increased defensive intensity of Meteors, who moved 19 points clear after another Nnabuihe bucket was followed by seven straight points from Keane, whose three-point effort was met with a favourable roll.

Grace Miley did get in for a late first-half deuce, but Templeogue were still left facing a 48-31 deficit heading into the half-time break.

The prospect of a second-half revival appeared even more remote for Templeogue as they shipped the opening six points of the third quarter, Jude and Lynch landing some early threes.

But Templeogue were not about to throw in the towel and served up 12 unanswered points, including buckets from Booth, Miley, Behan and Sophie Gallagher that closed the gap to 11.

A deuce from Lynch did arrest that run as Meteors steadied the ship with the aid of a treble by McGrath that helped see them take a 61-44 cushion into the final quarter.

Again they accounted for the opening six points of the fourth, Keane picking up two from the free-throw line, as Meteors moved 23 points clear.

Templeogue were unable to make much, if any, in-roads into that advantage as Jude, Keane and Sarah Donnelly did keep the scoreboard ticking for Meteors to help see them make it comfortably over the finish line.

“Templeogue are a fine team” remarked Séamas Donnelly, Meteors head coach. “We were just a little bit better on our two-three zone today. We stifled them for a while and we continued to score with some excellent plays.”

 

Quarter Scores: Q1: 22-19, Q2: 26-12, Q3: 13-13, Q4: 16-6

Game Scores: Q1: 22-19, Q2: 48-31, Q3: 61-44, Q4: 77-50

Meteors:

Andrea Chryslyn Jude (17), Aoife Hutchinson (0), Kira Lynch (12), Emma Johansson (0), Kaitlyn Summers (2), Stephanie Nnabuihe (8), Kate Donnelly (0), Hannah Gilligan (0), Riodhna McGrath (6), Sarah Donnelly (2), Helena Keane (30), Ella Patrick (0).

Templeogue:

Sarah Garvey (0), Sophia Kiely (0), Sophie Gallagher (4), Katie Behan (22), Eabha Booth (7), Lauren Neville (4), Siobháin O’Leary (3), Maria Valenzuela (1), Liliyah Waters (2), Grace Miley (7), Rebecca Cleary (0).

MVP:  Helena Keane (Meteors)