MERCY COLLEGE – ALL-IRELAND GIRLS U-19 ‘C’ CHAMPIONS Superb day for schools basketball!
All-Ireland titles won by Summerhill College and the Mercy College at the National Basketball Arena in Dublin
THIS was one of the greatest days for Sligo’s schools basketball scene. Two Sligo town secondary schools, Summerhill College and Mercy College, won titles at the National Basketball Arena on Wednesday of last week, with Summerhill taking the spoils in the Basketball Ireland All-Ireland Schools Boys U-16 ‘B’ Cup final.
Later that afternoon, the Mercy College triumphed at the Tallaght venue in the Basketball Ireland AllIreland Schools Girls U-19 ‘C’ Cup decider.
Summerhill’s victory came against CBS Thurles, a seven-point win, 33-26, in which 18 points came from Brian Meehan and Micheál Harte, who tallied nine each.
Meehan, the winners’ captain, was named the game’s MVP (Most Valuable Player).
Although they were two points down at half-time, 19-17, during the third quarter Summerhill rediscovered the zest that had them 14-8 in front after the first quarter and they brought a six-point lead into the fourth quarter.
CBS Thurles were unable to replicate the strong play that had them ahead at the end of the second quarter.
Along with Brian Meehan and Micheál Harte, Summerhill’s other main scorers were Manus McManus and Thomas O’Brien, each of whom supplied five points.
Summerhill’s head coach Gary Goldrick reckoned that the tough journey to the national finals, via the northwest regional qualifiers, provided the players with invaluable experience. He stated: “We’ve had a couple of tough matches this year that were really character-building games. We’re so lucky that the north-west region is improving every year and those hard games stood to us on the day [of the final].
“We just try to make things hard for the rest of the teams around us – the lads have committed to that and they were absolutely brilliant. He added: “The players have been absolutely brilliant all year – they’ve worked so hard and they’re just a great group to work with.”
The number of points scored by Anna McDaniel in the All-Ireland Schools Girls U-19 ‘C’ Cup.
THE Mercy College had 18 points to spare, 44-26, in their joust with Naas Community College.
It was Anna McDaniel’s final as she scored 31 points and her standout display earned her the MVP (Most Valuable Player) prize. Clodagh Barrett
Summerhill College Boys U-16 basketball squad: Dayo Bolarinwa, Keelan Mulligan,
Jack Kelly, Brian Meehan (c), Manus McManus, Aaron Keane, Thomas Casey,
James Lineen, Pearse Gallagher, Micheál Harte, Alex Daly, Thomas O’Brien
Head coach: Gary Goldrick
Mercy College Girls U-19 basketball squad: Aoibheann Schmidtmeier, Clodagh Barrett (co-captain), Kayleigh Walsh, Poppy Garvey, Sarah McDaniel, Anna McDaniel, Xena Morgan (co-captain), Hazel O’Brien, Emma Lineen, Clara Reynolds
Head coach: Louise Harte and Xena Morgan, with six points and three points respectively, were the Mercy’s other main scorers. Barrett and Morgan are also the team’s co-captains.
The Mercy were eight points up at the end of first quarter, 17-9, and five points clear at half-time, 20-15. With a 13-point lead going into the fourth quarter, 34-21, the Mercy were on course for victory against their Kildare opponents.
While this was the Anna McDaniel show last Wednesday, the Sligo team’s