There was double success for Calasanctius Oranmore in the Irish schools’ cup basketball finals in Dublin this week with the schools’ girls’ u16 and boys’ u19 sides taking the A titles. The girls’ final saw the Galway girls win out over Mercy Mount Hawk on a score of 57-41, while in the boys’ final the Oranmore lads had a narrow 77 -69 win over St Benildus College. In the girls’ final a great team display, backboned by Ailish O’Reilly’s MVP performance, secured the win. O’Reilly drained two three-pointers to end any hopes of the Mercy team gaining a victory. With two additional free throws to seal the game, Calasanctius Oranmore began the celebrations as the final buzzer sounded at the score line of 41 - 57.
Calasanctius Oranmore’s scores came from A O’Reilly (20 ), C Finn (12 ), S Reynolds (10 ).
In the boys’ u19 final Kenneth Hansberry gave a master class in inside shooting at the National Basketball Arena as John Finn’s side lifted the u19 A cup in Tallaght on Tuesday. Hansberry was unmarkable on the day, the big man’s hop and drive tactics making him a nightmare for the Benildus defence. And in the end he was worth every one of his 43 points as he collected the coveted Golden Ball award. Calasanctius Oranmore’s scores came from K Hansberry (43 ), C O’Hagan (13 ), P Burke (10 ).
