One thing the coaches agree on: This kid can play

Two bleary-eyed coaches from Tralee met each other at the front door of Cork’s Parochial Hall just after half-past ten on a Saturday morning. Both on the same scouting mission.

“Wait until you see her,” said one. “Her expression never changes. Watch.”

Only the 42 points that morning for Edel Thornton in a National U18 Cup semi-final against favoured Meteors from Dublin. A paltry 18 points followed the next day as Brunell’s U20 side made it a Cup weekend double for the Cork club.

Basketball might be a huge participant sport in this country but the community is tidy. Word of a young phenom spreads quickly, not least when Cork is already sprinkled with nascent talent like at no time since the halcyon days of Blarney in the late eighties.

The slight 17-year old from Templeacre Avenue on the north side of Cork city is very clear in her goals — “college in America” — and all the indications are that she has the dogged persistence to go with the talent to get there.

“Edel can be one of the best players in Irish basketball,” her Brunell coach Kieran O’Leary says. “If she sticks with it, she will be an unbelievable player. She has a fantastic heart for the game, she’s always at 100%, never stops. This kid practices day in day out, every hour. And that’s outside training.”

Her brother Jason is the Brunell secretary, and says that while basketball was in the house, it was never rammed down Edel’s throat by her parents or three older brothers.

“She went over to the (Parochial) Hall with her friend Grace Kelleher to (coach) Ken Foley, and took it from there. She was six or seven at the time but all the way through to the Irish set-up, she followed her program to the syllable.”

Once you overcome the initial surprise that a young lady so slight could be so dominant in a game, you progress to the natural conclusion Thornton is both Brunell’s strength and weakness. Stop her and you stop Brunell, right? “The opposition’s focus is invariably on Edel, but that’s the chance for others to step up,” explains Jason Thornton. “People think Brunell are a one person team. Edel had an unbelievable semi-final against Meteors, but you might argue that it was Grace Kelleher was the key for us in the end. She got ten points on the trot while Meteors were focused on Edel.”

O’Leary says Thornton is a kid who “always stood out” — “she looked up at those above her and said ‘I want to be as good as that’.

“Her energy is huge,” says U20 captain Megan O’Leary, a star turn herself. “And even though she scores, she works even harder on her defence, even though she’s often up against bigger girls.”

O’Leary, Thornton and Amy Waters will power Brunell’s U20 side against Cork rivals Glanmire tomorrow. But given Glanmire’s strength-in-depth at U18 level, Thornton may struggle to help her own age grade to a third successive Cup win this morning at the National Arena.

“Being honest, the U20’s probably have a slightly better chance,” admits Kieran O’Leary, the U18’s coach. And, of course, Glanmire know Edel as well as their own colleagues. With the likes of Hayley Lenihan, Sarah Kenny and Olivia Dupuy on the Glanmire roster, it’s a tough ask. But the fifth year at St Vincent’s secondary school, a three-point shot from Neptune Stadium, remains defiant.

“When we were younger, Glanmire’s older girls used to run the show around here. Now it has changed a bit, it’s evened out over the last few years.”

She may have won National Cups already but it’s a sensation Edel won’t tire of any time soon.

“Your first reaction is to scream. I almost panicked last year, everyone swarmed around us, I just broke down crying. After it all dies down, you appreciate it; it’s one of the best feelings in the world.

“If you win a hurling All-Ireland, I’m sure it’s the same thing, but to win a National Cup in the Arena is amazing.”

And the close attention she now attracts every time she steps on the court? “At the start it was hard to deal with because coming up, I was never one of the players the opposition bothered with. Now I have to deal with it, players getting into your head and harassing you everywhere on the court. But I’ve learned to calm myself down. I know if I get frustrated, I’m only letting down the other girls on the court.

“On the inside I might be frustrated, but on the outside I won’t show it.”