Oranmore's Calasanctius College is celebrating two national victories on the basketball courts with both the U16 girls' and boys' teams securing schools' league cup titles.
The U16A Girls Schools League final against Regina Mundi was a thriller, which Calasanctius won by 60-59 in overtime, thanks to two nerveless free throws by MVP Laoise Quinn following a foul on the final buzzer. The schools U16A boys also had a narrow win, defeating Kerry’s SPSL Rathmore 50-48.
The girls' decider was a tight affair throughout with the lead changing multiple times. Level 29-29 at half-time, the game went into overtime when Regina Mundi captain Ava Walshe forced overtime after scoring an excellently executed three-point jump shot with 41 seconds to go.
The game’s pattern continued in overtime, and when Aisling Coakley’s layup gave Regina Mundi a 59-58 lead with just 15 seconds to go, it looked all over for the Galway school. However, a foul on the buzzer handed Calasanctius College a chance for victory, and Quinn kept her composure to secure the title.
Quinn finished as her team’s top scorer on 22 points, with Aisling Jordan on 15 and Jessica Ross on 8.
Calasanctius U16A boys followed suit with little between the sides in the opening two quarters, and just a point between them at half-time, with the Galway side 29-28 in front.
Calasanctius had opened up a nine-point advantage with 2:35 to go in the third quarter following Alvin Olagemi’s lay-up. However, a three-point jump shot by John Hughes on the buzzer at the end of the third pulled SPSL Rathmore back into it, as they trailed 41-37.
With 2:08 to go, the game was level at 47-47, following Conor Moynihan’s lay-up, and the winning points came with just 6.3 seconds on the clock.
Tiernan Keane drew a foul and added the extras to go 50-47 up before Hugh Kerry’s SPSL Rathmore picked up two free throws. They converted the first, and with 3.9 seconds on the clock, they had one last roll of the dice. However, John Hughes missed a three-point jump shot from the corner, and Calasanctius College clung on to win.
Calasanctius College's Alvin Olagemi was awarded the MVP after his 15-point performance.
The Bish
Also in action was Galway's St Joseph’s (The Bish ) who lost 56-42 to Coláiste Éanna in the U19A Boys Schools League final
The sides were level at 10-10 at the end of the first, before a strong second quarter from the Dublin school saw them outscore their opponents by 20-4, to lead 30-14 at half-time.
Nathan Comerford’s layup in the closing seconds of the third saw Coláiste Éanna ahead by 20 points, 45-25, and although St Joseph’s narrowed the deficit in the fourth, it was Coláiste Éanna's day. St Joseph’s offence was led by Joseph Coughlan (17 ), Cian Carroll (8 ) and Rory O’Sullivan 7.
