Double delight for Gortnor Abbey girls in regional finals
IT was a double celebration for the students of Gortnor Abbey, Crossmolina, who landed the double in the Under 19 and Under 16 B Irish Basketball Schoolgirls regional finals at An Sportlann, Castlebar.
In two very exciting games, the Crossmolina girls just edged both games by the narrowest of margins, the Under 16s hitting a late basket to deny St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Castlebar, while the Under 19 final was also a tight affair, Claregalway losing by a basket.
Both losing teams also go through to the All-Ireland series along with the winners.
SINEAD BAGS WINNER
Sinead Walsh put in a powerful performance, hitting 18 points, as Gornor Abbey landed the Under 19 title by a single basket (30-28).
The prolific Walsh couldn't have timed her final basket better as Claregalway appeared to have snatched victory when they hit the front from the free-throw line.
However, in the remaining seconds, Walsh ran the court to score at the other end, a late free throw from Erin Naylor adding an extra point.
It was the Crossmolina girls who settled early and took the first quarter 11-9, and also powered on in the second quarter to win it 8-3.
The Galway girls won the third quarter 9-8 but it was Gortnor Abbey who led by 27-21 going into the final quarter.
Claregalway began to hit a tiring Gortnor Abbey team on the break and all of a sudden they were back in it.
In fact, Gortnor Abbey manged to score just three points in the fourth and final quarter but they were to prove the scores which got them over the winning line in the end, as did the performance from the outstanding Walsh who ran herself into the ground.
The Gortnor Abbey team on duty was: S. Walsh (18), L. Conmy (5), A. Murphy (2), B. McAndrew (2), E. Naylor (3), E. Rowland, S. Gough, R. Walsh, A. Loftus, A. Murphy, M. Sheridan, D. Doyle, Z. Daly.
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Pictured are the Gortnor Abbey Under 16 B girls with their cup and medals after winning the schoolgirls regional basketball league title.Image 2 of 2
The Under 16 girls of St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Castlebar, were beaten by a basket by Gortnor Abbey of Crossmolina but still go through to the knockout stages of the schoolgirls league.CLOSE RUN THRILLER
The Under 16 girls final provided the curtain raiser at An Sportlann and similar to the senior game, it ended in a welter of excitement as St. Joseph's Secondary School, Castlebar, were pipped by the Crossmolina girls in a photo finish.
It was Roisin Tolan who landed the winning basket in the dying seconds of a thrilling encounter.
St. Joseph’s dominated the opening two quarters of this game but they tired in the end. They had the chances to put the game to bed but the ball, as they say, just didn’t drop in their favour and Gortnor Abbey were more clinical in their execution in that regard.
St. Joseph’s dominated the boards, with Glory Issac and Sonia Manduwuba very strong in an opening quarter that the Castlebar school won 13-9.
Gortnor Abbey came back strongly to win the second quarter 14-9, Ceola Gallagher, who finished on 15 points, Roisin Tolan and Emma Finnerty hitting some good scores, but Lauren Fahey and Julia Ramon were now nailing some excellent baskets for St. Joseph’s, who trailed by a point at the break (21-22).
The third quarter was shared nine points apiece, which left Gortnor Abbey up by a point – 32-31 – going into the third quarter.
Gortnor Abbey kicked on by five points at one stage and looked home and hosed but the gritty display of the Castlebar girls saw them battle back to go level at 37-all, extra-time now a strong possibility.
However, Roisin Tolan ran the floor to lay-up for the winning score.
The Gortnor Abbey scorers were: Ceola Gallagher (15), Roisin Tolan (8), Emma Finnerty (8), Kayla Doherty (4), Hannah Newman (2) and Lilly Finnerty (2).
On target for St. Joseph’s were: Sonia Maduwuba (13), Glory Issac (12), Lauren Fahy (7), Julia Ramon (4) and Caoimhe McHale (1).