Our Lady of Lourdes, Rosbercon 30
Ramsgrange Community School 18
Our Lady of Lourdes captured their first South East title since 1997 on Tuesday 20th March, 2018 when they played Ramsgrange Community School in the 1st Year girls South East final which took place in the Mercy Secondary School in Waterford.
The game started at a blistering pace with both teams seeming very frantic in the opening exchanges each looking to settle into the game the quickest. OLOL were first to get off the mark with an inside score from Marita Kennedy however Ramsgrange quickly responded with a great drive to the basket by Aideen Sondors Foley. Ramsgrange during the 1st quarter seemed to be adapting to the game better than the Rosbercon girls who were struggling to come to terms with the strong Ramsgrange zone defence. Ramsgrange’s Aisling Gabbett got another basket for her side before Rosbercon’s Julia Halicka converted a close range shot to keep her team level going into the second half. The second quarter allowed Ramsgrange’s Jaime Walsh show off her speed as she converted to fantastic drives to the basket and seemed involved with every play Ramsgrange was involved with. OLOL were stuggling offensively and failed to score from play in this quarter due to the good defensive play. Anna Phelan scored their only point when she converted from the freethrow line to keep her team within reaching distance. Half time score Ramsgrange 8 Our lady of Lourdes 5.
Going into the second half it was anyone’s to play for with both defences winning the battle. The third quarter saw OLOL’s co-captains Kirsten Kenny and Sinead Currran lead by example within the first minute or so of the quarter and got their team into the lead for the first time in the game. This seemed to spur the Rosbercon girls on and give them that little bit of confidence they seemed to be lacking in the 1st half. Ramsgrange were also finding it hard to contain OLOL’s point guard Julia Halicka and began to get themselves into team fouls resulting in freethrows which Halicka gladly put away. Ava White Keating and Orlaith Butler helped keep Ramsgrange within 2 points however Halicka once again drove to the board, missed the shot, got her own rebound and scored on the buzzer to give her team a 16-12 lead going into the final quarter.
With the tension getting greater and the supporters getting louder, the 4th quarter started where the 3rd had left off. Quick scores from Julia Halicka and Aisling Ryan helped extend the lead which gave Rosbercon a nice cushion going into the last few minutes. A fine baseline drive by OLOL’s Kenny gave her team a 10 point lead with 3 minutes to go on the clock. Ramsgrange weren’t about to give up just yet and scores from Jaime Walsh and Ava White Keating gave them some hope however 3 more scores from the Rosbercon side meant that there was no comeback and ran out 30-18 winners.
Co- Captains Kirsten Kenny & Sinead Curran were presented the Minor C trophy by President of Basketball Ireland Theresa Walsh in front of a crowd of Our Lady of Lourdes students, teachers and parents.
Next up for the team is a place in the All Ireland playoffs in April where they will be vying for a place in the All Ireland semi finals.
Team:
OLOL: Kirsten Kenny (4pts), Sinead Curran (2pts), Julia Halicka (19pts), Aisling Ryan (2pts), Marita Kennedy (2pts), Ciara Mullally, Anna Phelan (1 pt), Aoife O’Brien, Niamh O’Connor, Nicole McGrath, Keela Cassin, Elaine Aspel.
Coach: Daphne Kennington
Ass. Coach: Sarah Coughlan
Ramsgrange: Ave White Keating (4pts), Orlaith Butler (4pts), Eireann Sonders Foley, Aideen Sonders Foley (2pts), Jaime Walsh (6pts), Isobel Kane, Jenna Molloy, Ruby Murphy, Anois Giona, Aisling Gabbett (2pts), Michela Sinnott, Aine Swan.
Coaches: Nichola Culleton & Emer Scanlon