U19 Girls Basketball
Last Friday, our U19 girls basketball team travelled to the National Basketball Arena in Dublin for the semi-final of the All-Ireland Schools Cup. King’s Hospital, Dublin (KH) were the opposition. On arrival our supporters from 1st through to TY took their places in the stand but were heavily outnumbered by the KH. The Flannan’s support was not to let us down though. An early basket set the mood for our supporters who burst into cheers and were never quiet for long from then on. They matched the cheers and support from the opposition fans on every occasion as we took a seven point lead in the first quarter playing some excellent defense to limit the scoring of the opposing team.
However, KH were able to win the momentum back in their favour in the second quarter leaving only a one point gap between the teams. Through the third quarter, the Dublin side took the lead for the first time in the game and extended it to 5 soon after. With the girls in danger of being overcome by the roars and encouragment from the KH support, they were able to hit a timely basket to make sure the lead didn’t grow any bigger. Entering the final quarter on the losing side, the girls knew they would have to work harder to overcome the opposition.
After tying it up midway through the quarter and then taking the lead, it looked like we might be able to push on and claim victory but a lapse in concentration on defence meant we got hit by a 3 pointer to put us back in a losing spot with just over a minute to go. The last minute was gripping with Flannan’s down by 2 with forty seconds to go. A number of small adjustments on offense made during a timeout got us back level and then some stellar defensive work got us the ball back twice, with us not being able to convert on the first attempt. On the second attempt with 12 seconds to go, we were able to inbound the ball, drive in, avoid the defensive player at the basket before finishing with the layup to put us back in front with less than 8 seconds to play. The girls piled on the pressure to keep KH away from our basket in the closing moments, before the final whistle went to the delight of all the travelling team and fans. Thank you to everyone who attended and cheered the team on. The final will take place on Thursday January 23rd where we hope to add an All-Ireland trophy to our regional trophy from the Schools League.