St. Pat’s Cavan overcome Castleisland CC to secure U16 'A' Boys All-Ireland Schools Cup

St. Pat’s Cavan secured a nail-biting 38-36 victory over Castleisland CC to win the U16 'A' Boys All-Ireland Schools Cup behind a big 14-point game from MVP Arda Ozden at the National Basketball Arena on Tuesday afternoon.

Justinas Gritenas opened the game with a three for St. Pat’s to take the lead inside 30 seconds of the game starting. Arda Ozden kicked off his scoring with a tidy finish inside to give St. Pat’s a 5-2 lead midway through the first.

Castleisland fought back well through scores from Darragh O’Sullivan and Ogie O’Leary Griffin to bring the game back to a one score game, with the score at 9-8 heading into the second quarter.

St. Pat’s took control early on in the second with Oluebube Azubuike and Darlintin Olayemi getting tough finishes, either side of a Ozden three, to race into a 16-8 lead with just over three minutes gone in the second.

Ozden would then end the quarter with another vital three, to give St. Pat’s a nine-point, 20-11, advantage at the half-time interval.

 Fortune Igbojionu contesting for the ball for St. Pat's Cavan in the U16 'A' Boys All-Ireland Schools Cup final in the National Basketball Arena

Both sides traded scores early in the third with neither side managing to get a rush of momentum. Gritenas hit a three for St. Pat’s to push ap to 11 points, but was met by scores for Castleisland by Connie O’Connor and Darragh O’Sullivan which had the gap at nine points, the scoreline at 24-15 with just under four minutes to go in the period.

Olayemi would score Castleisland’s last four points of the quarter and bring them into the fourth quarter behind by seven points at 30-23.

Castleisland came back in a big way in the fourth, three straight scores within a minute from O’Leary Griffin, O’Sullivan and Emmet Hickey bringing Castleisland level at 32-32 with four and a half minutes to go in the game.

For St. Pat’s they showed enough resolve to not fall behind down the stretch, late scores in the paint from Olayemi and Fortune Igbojionu edging them ahead 38-36 in the final seconds was just enough as the buzzer sounded to crown St. Pat’s Cavan U16 'A' Boys All-Ireland Schools Cup winners.

Quarter Scores:

Q1: 9-8, Q2: 11-3, Q3: 10-12, Q4: 8-13

Game Scores:

Q1: 9-8, Q2: 20-11, Q3: 30-23, Q4: 38-36

St. Pat’s Cavan: Justinas Gritenas, Tom Doherty, Zach Byrne, Seb Curtin, James Finlay, Oisin Maguire, Arda Ozden, Oluebube Azubuike, Cian Fitzpatrick, Fortune Igbojionu, Darlintin Olayemi

Top Scorers: Arda Ozden (14), Darlintin Olayemi (8), Justinas Gritenas (6)

Castleisland CC: Ryan O’Connor, Olly O’Shea, Ogie O’Leary Griffin, Darragh O’Sullivan, Connie O’Connor, Sean Kerin, Conor Ryan, Dean O’Donoghue, Gearoid Joy, Joey Kelly, Fionn Browne, Emmet Hickey

Top Scorers: Emmet Hickey (14), Darragh O’Sullivan (9), Ogie O’Leary Griffin (8)