Christmas feast of action for Our Lady’s College

A SEVEN-GAME schedule in four days saw most Our Lady’s College basketball teams take to the court and there were some very exciting, tight finishes.

One of the highlights was the appearance for the first time of the First Year Minor B team who showed great promise, but the week began with home games for the 2nd Year Junior C and Senior Under-19A teams against Mercy College of Coolock.

First up were the juniors and this team continues to improve with every game. Although losing out 13-10 the match went down to the wire, with Mercy only pulling away in the last two minutes. Rebecca McGrane was outstanding on the ball, with Niamh Gumba impressing under the boards.

The Senior Under-19A team desperately needed a win under their belt, but Mercy had two very strong club players who made an impact from the start and the home side were trailing 10-4 at the first break.

However, a better second quarter, with Ysabela Flores coming into her own, saw Our Lady’s lead 15-13 at the half-time interval and it was level going into the final quarter, with Lindsey Eriamietor outstanding under both boards.

With the sides scoring 12 points each in the final quarter it was all square at the final whistle - 34-34 - and with the sides also level on team foul penalties it came down to a free throw shootout. Unfortunately, with Our Lady’s missing seven free-throws they eventually went down 39-38, with the loss of Eriamietor in that final quarter not helping their cause.

The following day it was the turn of St Mary’s of Glasnevin to make the journey to the Boyneside with two Under-16 teams.

The Our Lady’s Division 1 side were looking to maintain their 100% winning record, and club player Ava Prendergast’s was once more a solid influence from the point guard position.

However, Glasnevin also had two club players who dominated for them and just a single basket separated the sides at break one, with the Drogheda girls 7-5 ahead.

Captain Catherine Grey was their only scorer in quarter two and the hosts found themselves 12-9 down at the half-time interval.

Quarter three was interesting to say the least as one of Glasnevin’s club players got herself disqualified for several technical fouls and that left them with five players as they had travelled with only six.

The lead was back with the ‘College’ 17-15 - going into the final quarter, but they were not firing on all cylinders, struggling to make simple scores.

It nearly cost them dear, despite the visitors going down to four players in that final period, but a late basket from Oyin Adelegan saw the hosts snatch a 23-21 victory against their plucky opponents.

The Under-16C Division 2 side came up a very strong St Mary’s outfit and were staring a very heavy defeat by the half-time break, trailing 27-2 at that point.

However, Our Lady’s rallied in the third quarter and outscored St Mary’s 16-4 to halve the deficit, with Erin Floyd particularly strong over the floor.

The hosts had left themselves too much to do, though, and eventually went down 49-24.

On the Wednesday it was debut time for both the Second Year Junior A and First Year Minor B sides to take to the court and they made the trip to Drumcondra to take on Maryfield College.

The Junior B side boasts nine club players and therefore play in the Premier Division, and after a low-scoring first quarter the away team led 4-2, thanks to baskets from captain Ellie Riggs and newcomer Josephine Ogbanga.

The remaining periods saw Our Lady’s gradually extend their lead, with Nikola Busa, Abby Rice, Ava Briscoe and Ciara NicCriosta all prominent, and their eventual winning margin was 29-18.

Having watched the preceding match, the First Year Minor B team were waiting to take to the floor with a lot of nerves and it took them a while to get their feet.

Ellen McCarthy was first to score for Our Lady’s and in the second quarter Subomi Dele and Keelin Foley found their range.

However, Maryfield’s A team were a bit luckier on the day and ran out 16-10 winners against an Our Lady’s outfit who should still have a successful season.

The final game of the week saw the Senior Under-19B team complete their league campaign away to Dominican College in Drumcondra.

Victory would almost definitely secure them a quarter-final spot in the SSA League, but after a very low-scoring first half the Drogheda girls trailed 6-4.

The third quarter was their strongest and they led 11-8 going into the last period. Dominican fought back and with less than one minute remaining the match was tied, but then a shot by Naoise Callan went straight through hoop to secure a hard-fought 13-11 victory.

JUNIOR C: Emily Farrell 2pts; Olamide Adegoke; Ciara Coombes 2; Ellen Donnelly; Niamh Gumba 2; Dijanan Markovic; Rebecca McGrane 4; Aoibheann NiFhearaigh; Gemma O’Toole; Sharon Popoola.

SENIOR A: Sinead Collier 2pts; Caoimhe Doherty; Lindsey Eriamietor 13; Ysabela Flores 13; Aoife Howard 3; Sinead Lewin; Dearbhla Munster; Emily Murphy 3; Maria O’Donohoe 4; Laura Rice; Garoa Villaverde; Caroline Kelly.

UNDER-16 A: Catherine Grey 4pts; Oyin Adelegan 6; Leah Bastianelli; Shona Bradley; Eimear Clarke; Eimear Faulkner; Holly Garry; Bronagh Lane 2; Ruby Matthews; Ofu Obhakhan; Ava Prendergast 10; Maia Savage; Lynn Victory 1.

UNDER-16 CADETTE C: Jennifer Hickey; Aoife Burke; Erin Floyd; Kellie Grendon; Omnia Kharief; Catherine Malone; Kate Markey; Janet Olagbaju; Ronke Olatinwo; Deirdre Russell.

JUNIOR B: Ellie Riggs 2pts; Ava Briscoe 6; Nikola Busa 4; Loveth Edomwande 2; Zoe Gardiner; Dannan Jackson; Greta McEvoy; Ciara NicCriosta 9; Kaylin Nugent; Josephine Ogbanga 2; Abby Rice 4; Ava Russell; Abby Strutt.

MINOR B: Subomi Dele 2pts; Sarah Duff; Keelin Foley 2; Niamh Higgins; Ava Hoey; Teigan Kavanagh; Amy Matthews; Ellen McCarthy 4; Clodagh McHugh; Cliona McKernan 2; Katie Murphy; Stephanie Obisan; Rosie Savage.

UNDER-19B: Sarah Flood 2pts; Aizzah Adil; Ayishat Agboola; Aoife Burke 2; Naoise Callan 2; Chelsea Imafidon 3; Niamh Killeen 4; Shauna Lynch; Niamh Woods.

RUGBY