Peter’s reach last eight
THE ST. Peter’s College Under-16 basketball squad have qualified for the All-Ireland quarter-finals in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght on February 10 - the first time in the school’s history. It is an incredible achievement by the players involved.
St. Peter’s College hosted the All-Ireland play-offs on January 12 against Lucan C.C. (Dublin) and Beara C.S. (Castletownbere, Co. Cork).
St. Peter’s versus Lucan was the first match-up and, after an uneasy start with back-to-back three-pointers from the opposition’s star, Alex Geissel, the home side controlled the game by at least four points for the vast majority of the game.
Lucan kept it a very tight match and were on the pace, until St. Peter’s managed to peel away with the lead in the fourth quarter, winning by a comfortable ten points in the end.
The second match between
Lucan and Beara could have been closer, but the Dubliners looked tired going into their second of two back-to-back matches.
Their star performer, who had played every minute of the match against St. Peter’s, was unfortunately, for both Lucan and any neutrals, fouled out of the game in the second quarter.
Lucan struggled for scores without him and Beara ran away with the game, winning by an emphatic 17 points in the end.
The final match was the decider, as both teams had beaten Lucan, who were now knocked out.
Killian Whelan opened the scoring for St. Peter’s, but back-to-back three-pointers from Beara soon had the home side trailing, and at the end of the first quarter the score was 14-10 in favour of the Cork side.
St. Peter’s came out strongly at the beginning of the second, both offensively and defensively, scoring eleven points and holding the visitors to just four.
By the end of the half, St. Peter’s carried a three-point lead with a score of 21 points to 18.
Killian Whelan had put in an outstanding performance, having scored 13 points in only the first two quarters.
Four points from Cillian Cullen in the third, and four from the opposition’s Dylan Crowley, maintained the score gap of three points going into the final quarter.
St. Peter’s put in an incredible team performance in the last quarter, with twelve points coming from five different scorers, causing them to lead by as much as twelve at one point, the highest the score gap had been at any point in the match by some distance.
Beara had showed a heavy reliance on two players, with 30 of their 31 points coming from Dylan Crowley and Ronan O’Sullivan.
St. Peter’s squad depth and amazing team play was the difference in the match-up, with the final score of 38-31 in favour of the hosts.