Coláiste Eanna, Pres Kilkenny, St. Pat’s Cavan and Crescent Comp claim Schools Cup 'A' titles
Crescent College Comprehensive celebrate their championship victory. Pic: Tom O’Hanlon/Inpho
Coláiste Éanna dethroned defending champions St. Mary’s Portlaoise in the U19 'A' Boys All-Ireland Schools Cup in the National Basketball Arena on Tuesday, regaining the title for the first time since 2024.
Irish international Adam Charles picked up the MVP in his final appearance at schools cup level, scoring 16 points.
Éanna led by as much as 18 points early in the game, but Portlaoise reduced the deficit to as little as one point - falling just short of completing the comeback, as Éanna finished strong to win by nine.
The game began with Éanna flying out of the blocks early on. Charles, Adam McCarthy and Augustine Farrell all hit three’s in the opening two and a half minutes to race into an 11-0 lead.
A tough score inside from Portlaoise’s Justice Iheme brought St. Mary’s to within six points at 13-7 with four minutes to go in the first. But it was Éanna who finished the quarter stronger, Karl Walsh hitting a three in the final 30 seconds to take a 24-13 advantage into the second quarter.
Karl Walsh picked up where he left off in the first, by hitting a big three in the opening minute of the second to make it 27-13.
Éanna started to step up their intensity with multiple stops including a steal that led to a fast break score from Aodhan O’Neill to give Éanna their largest cushion of the game of 18 points at 33-15 midway through the second quarter.
St. Mary’s started to gain some momentum with Desmond Ogedegbe converting free-throws and Iheme fighting through contact to get the and-one foul which reduced the deficit to 11 points with three minutes to go at 35-24. With one minute left on the clock, Jayden Umeh hit a crucial three to bring St. Mary’s to just four points behind with the score at half-time at 38-34.
St. Mary’s started the third period well and managed to come within one point of Éanna thanks to more free-throws from Ogedegbe. Éanna showed strong resolve to recover after Ogedegbe’s free-throws, going on a 9-0 run that was capped off by a tough finish from Patrick Walsh to give Éanna a 50-40 lead with just over two minutes left in the third.
The fourth quarter began with St. Mary’s continuing to try and chip away at Éanna’s lead with the Portlaoise school getting a lot of success getting to the free-throw line. Ogedegbe hit two big free-throws to bring St. Mary’s within nine points at 54-45 midway through the fourth.
Harry Lynch hit a vital three in the corner for Éanna to reinstate the ten-point advantage but it was instantly met with an Ogedegbe three for St. Mary’s to bring the score to 59-52 with two minutes to go in the final.
Despite Ogedegbe and St. Mary’s best efforts, scores from the free-throw line in the final minute from Charles and Augustine Farrell ensured Coláiste Éanna would take home the U19A Boys All-Ireland Schools Cup.
Presentation Kilkenny beat Castleisland CC 48-24 behind MVP Kayla Wall’s 13-point performance to secure the U16 'A' Girls All-Ireland Schools Cup in the National Basketball Arena on Tuesday.
The Kilkenny school, which featured a core group that took home U15 'A' All-Ireland Schools Cup honours last year, started strong and never relinquised their lead throughout the contest. Katie Holden getting a great finish inside to open the scoring with three minutes gone in the first quarter. Presentation would capitalise on the good start by going on an 11-0 run that was capped off by two consecutive Kayla Wall threes to race into a 13-2 lead with just under a minute to go in the first.
Bambrick capped off a strong opening quarter with a layup to give Pres a 15-4 lead heading into the second quarter.
Both sides traded early scores in the second period, but Castleisland started getting more of a foothold in the game with Sinead Galvin hitting a long-range two in the corner after a great run and pass from Grace McEvoy to make it 17-8 with two and a half minutes left in the second.
Presentation rallied with Bambrick and Kate Skehan finding success at the free-throw line to build a 13-point cushion to bring a 21-8 lead into the half-time break.
Castleisland came roaring out of the break with a 9-2 run of their own through free-throws from Galvin and a three from the top of the key from Isabel Walmsley to get to within ten points at 25-15 with five minutes to go in the third quarter.
Bambrick managed to get a crucial score after grabbing two offensive rebounds in a row in the paint to make it 29-17 to Presentation and halt the momentum of Castleisland with a minute left in the quarter. Bambrick then hit a deep two on the wing to close out the third and give Presentation a 31-17 lead heading into the final period.
Presentation kept a firm control on play in the final quarter, with Amy Hughes scoring through contact to give them a 22-point lead at 43-21 with just under two minutes to go. Sally Power’s layup and another Wall three extended the advantage to 48-21 and secure the win for Presentation Kilkenny.
St. Pat’s Cavan secured a nail-biting 38-36 victory over Castleisland CC to win the U16 'A' Boys All-Ireland Schools Cup behind a big 14-point game from MVP Arda Ozden at the National Basketball Arena on Tuesday afternoon.
Justinas Gritenas opened the game with a three for St. Pat’s to take the lead inside 30 seconds of the game starting. Arda Ozden kicked off his scoring with a tidy finish inside to give St. Pat’s a 5-2 lead midway through the first.
Castleisland fought back well through scores from Darragh O’Sullivan and Ogie O’Leary Griffin to bring the game back to a one score game, with the score at 9-8 heading into the second quarter.
St. Pat’s took control early on in the second with Oluebube Azubuike and Darlintin Olayemi getting tough finishes, either side of a Ozden three, to race into a 16-8 lead with just over three minutes gone in the second.
Ozden would then end the quarter with another vital three, to give St. Pat’s a nine-point, 20-11, advantage at the half-time interval.
Both sides traded scores early in the third with neither side managing to get a rush of momentum. Gritenas hit a three for St. Pat’s to push ap to 11 points, but was met by scores for Castleisland by Connie O’Connor and Darragh O’Sullivan which had the gap at nine points, the scoreline at 24-15 with just under four minutes to go in the period.
Olayemi would score Castleisland’s last four points of the quarter and bring them into the fourth quarter behind by seven points at 30-23.
Castleisland came back in a big way in the fourth, three straight scores within a minute from O’Leary Griffin, O’Sullivan and Emmet Hickey bringing Castleisland level at 32-32 with four and a half minutes to go in the game.
For St. Pat’s they showed enough resolve to not fall behind down the stretch, late scores in the paint from Olayemi and Fortune Igbojionu edging them ahead 38-36 in the final seconds was just enough as the buzzer sounded to crown St. Pat’s Cavan U16 'A' Boys All-Ireland Schools Cup winners.
Crescent Comprehensive won the U19 ‘A’ Girls All-Ireland Schools Cup after defeating Presentation Kilkenny 50-33 at the National Basketball Arena on Tuesday. Emma Somers earned MVP for Crescent Comprehensive with 16 points, flanked by the supporting cast of Megan Hehir and Madelyn Hartigan, who combined for 25 points just a few days after both won with Limerick Celtics in the U18 Women’s National Cup final last weekend.
Crescent Comprehensive started the faster of the two sides, with Hehir hitting a corner three to cap off a 9-0 run, to give Crescent a 13-2 lead with three minutes to go in the opening quarter.
Sally Power hit a three of her own to reduce the deficit to five points, at 11-6, with a minute to go, but Hartigan and Somers would hit tough shots inside ,to give Crescent a 15-6 lead after one quarter of action.
In the early moments of the second quarter, Crescent’s Hartigan would finish through contact to extend the lead, then hit a free-throw to push the gap to 12 points inside the opening 90 seconds of the quarter. Robyn Walsh would follow up with two free-throws of her own, to put Crescent in to a commanding 21-8 lead midway through the quarter.
Presentation would rally well with a Kaitlyn Summers three and a late score from Power again, to keep the Crescent within single digits, as Presentation went in at half-time behind 23-14.
Power and Summers started the third period strongly, responding to two early Crescent score’s by going on a 16-4 run, with every score coming from Power and Summers, bar one from Niamh Mulhall. The crucial score coming from Power after winning the offensive rebound from a missed free-throw to bring Presentation within one point, 31-30, late in the third.
Crescent took a 32-30 lead into the fourth, and responded to Presentation’s third quarter run in emphatic fashion, winning the fourth quarter 18-3, kicking off the quarter on an 8-0 run, with two big three’s from Hehir and Walsh pushing Crescent to a 40-30 lead three minutes into the final quarter.
Eabha Hayes would finish well to get Crescent to 50 points, which was enough to secure the U19 ‘A’ Girls All-Ireland Schools Cup by a score of 50-33.
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