BASKETBALL: St Patrick's, Shannon, came away from the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght yesterday with two All-Ireland League titles as both their under-16s and under-19s claimed the spoils in emphatic fashion.
In the senior C final they shrugged off a sluggish start to beat St Aidan's, Cootehill, on a 52-46 scoreline, while they took the junior title by beating Meath's Dunshaughlin.
For a college renowned for its Gaelic games teams this joint success lays down a marker to the major basketball colleges in Munster. A new force is rising.
Basketball was first introduced in the school in the early 1980s and they won a Munster under-17 A title in 1987. The captain of that team, Pascal Brennan, went on to play at international level.
Yesterday a talismanic performance from the towering Johnny Bridges was recognised with the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award but it could have gone to any number of players.
Bridges was excellent in attack, finishing with 16 points, while in defence he made some crucial interventions under his own board.
Seán Stack contributed 14 points for the Shannon school including some vital baskets late on to stymie a revival, which was led by Seán Gaffney, Tony Brady and captain Michael McDonald. Yet, when Gary McCrudden was fouled out in the fourth quarter it left St Aidan's with too big a void to fill.
The difference between the sides was the superb defending of the victors. In this regard, Gavin Smith, Ngoni Ditima and Barry Leamy all contributed.
Damian Power also deserves a mention as he had played in the under-16 victory just two hours earlier.
Gaffney was on fire in the opening half when his side only surrendered the lead in the final seconds due to Stack raising his game. At 25-23 the result was still too tight to call.
However, the start of both the third and fourth quarter saw St Patrick's pull away with Bridges and Stack both racking up the points. St Aidan's refused to let them canter home but the strength in depth prevailed.
The MVP from the under-16 C final, Kevin Cahill, stayed on the bench in the senior final. Yet, his 16-point haul in the first part of their double showed his undoubted talent as St Patrick's beat Dunshaughlin 44-28, again overcoming a slow start to run out clear winners.
Stephen Monaghan's three-point shooting played its part as did some Trojan work from Power and Marc Casilagan. For the Meath school Alan Kelly kept the scoreboard ticking over, while Sharif Attia was excellent in defence.
The titles continued to go south as in the under-16 B League Final as Ard Scoil Rís, Limerick, overcame St Nathy's, Ballaghadereen, 42-26 after leading throughout.
It completes a clean sweep for coach Tommy Hehir, also the Limerick men's and woman's Superleague trainer, as the school picked up the cup competition in January.
Just like that cup final, Ben Homan received the MVP award but, again, it was a tight call. Hehir's son and team captain, Stuart, pulled the strings throughout while Paul Cummins and Gerard Myles gave distinguished performances.
They led 21-12 at the interval; thereafter Philip Craig, Shane Moran and Thomas Mahon all worked hard to open up the Limerick school but defensive steel was the order of the day.
All-Ireland Schools' League Under-19 C Final: St Patrick's, Shannon 52 (J Bridges 16, S Stack 14, G Smith 5, N Ditima 5) beat St Aidan's Cootehill 46 (S Gaffney 21, T Brady 13, G McCrudden 6).
Under-16 B Final: Ard Scoil Ris 42 (G Myles 11, S Hehir 10, B Honan 10) beat St Nathy's 26 (S Moran 10, S Craig 10, L Morris 4).
Under-16 C Final: St Patrick's, Shannon 44 (K Cahill 16, S Monaghan 12, D Power 6) beat Dunshaughlin 28 (A Kelly 15, S Attia 8).
