St Josephs edge Kestrels after overtime final

U12 BOYS DIVISION 2 PLATE St. Joseph’s 28 Kenmare Kestrels 24

FOR the first time in the KABB VITHIT Finals we had to go to overtime to settle the Boys U12 Division 2 Plate with St. Joseph’s eventually prevailing by 28-24 in the end. The sides couldn’t be separated in regulation with the game ending 23 points apiece and the extra three minutes were required to settle the issue.

The hero of the hour for St. Joseph’s was team captain PJ Dowling as he landed the crucial score for the winners in overtime before calmly draining two free throws to seal the deal. Kenmare had the better of the early exchanges and led 5-2 at quarter time with David O’Brien and Frankie O’Shea on the mark and Joseph Maher firing in Joseph’s only score.

St Joseph’s powered into the contest with a 12 point haul in the second through Oran Dooley, Ronan Sheridan, Dylan Buckley and PJ Dowling firing in scores while Kenmare stayed in touch through Liam Browne, Michael Tagney and Cathal Sweeney and Joseph’s edged 14-13 ahead at half time.

St Joseph’s pushed their lead out by three by the end of the third with Oisin Mulvihill and Joseph Maher in range. Kestrels bridged the gap in the final quarter with Ronan McCarthy and David O’Brien and a free throw from Chulainn Hussey drew Kenmare level after PJ Dowling had edged Joseph’s ahead in the shadow of the post.

So it went to overtime before Dowling played the perfect captain’s role by standing up to the mark to score from play before coolly adding two from the line and sparking great celebrations from the Joseph’s bench and their supporters.

U12 BOYS DIVISION 3 PLATE TK Cougars 37 St. Anne’s 25

IN a very entertaining decider Cougars finally prevailed after both sides went score for score up to the final quarter before Cougars pulled away to win. In an even first quarter Eanna and Fergal Murphy had Cougars on the board but Anne’s responded through Sean Barry and Cian Costello to edge ahead 8-6 at the end of the first.

Cougars stormed back into the contest with David Butler and Jack O’Donoghue in range but Anne’s kept in touch with the Cougars and trailed by a single point 18-17 at the long break.

Cougars edged further ahead in the third with Eanna Murphy and AC Padrillion on the mark but Anne’s hung in with Sean Barry and Cian Costello again firing in baskets. However Cougars kept the best till last and added 10 points in the final quarter through Dave Butler, Evan Cox and Ronan Bennett to seal the win by 37-25.

Champions of the U-12 KBAA Division 3 Girls Plate are St.Brendans, Tralee who played an impressive game of basketball against St. Bridgets, Currow on Sunday in Killarney. Back left to right Grace O’Donnell, Aisling Browne, Mairead Kelly (Coach), Elsie Peig Rogers, Terry Healy(Sponsor), Lauren Cotter, Anne Marie Healy (sponsor), Abigail O’Shea, Deirdre Lynch (Coach) with team mascot baby Ciarán Hartnett, Kate Sweeney, Anna O’Shea(Coach), Lilly Silong. Front left to right Tess O’Neill, Emma Greensymth, Eve Broderick, Aoife Hartnett, Amy and Brìd O’Shea, Leila O’Halloran, Taylor Stack Shanahan.