There was huge excitement as Coláiste Muire Máthair captured their first ever National title and were crowned Pinergy U16B All-Ireland Schools Cup Basketball Champions after a dominant display against Coláiste Pobail Bheannntraí saw them winning the contest on a 59-51 scoreline. MVP was Moycullen Basketball Club’s Colm Davoren who was making the three-point shots go down for fun when it mattered, especially, in the third quarter, ending up on a 21-point tally. It was a keenly contested start to the game with both teams exchanging scores through the likes of Marco Radevic and Bantry’s Jack Phillips.
Early on it was Phillips’s steal in defence that set up his impressive 18-point scoring teammate Charlie Curran for a quick break and score to give them a lead in the middle of the first. However, that served as a catalyst for Coláiste Muire Máthair who then took control for the remainder of the quarter, and indeed it would be the only time they were behind in the game.
An eleven-point lead at half time bode well for the Galway school, but it was in the third quarter that they laid their mark on the match. Colm Davoren was on fire for the Galway outfit here, scoring two rapid baskets from the three-point arc to put clear daylight between the sides. By the time the buzzer sounded the lead had stretched to 16 and the Galway school were beginning to relax a bit.
To their credit, Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí kept plugging away, and a three-point effort from Jack Phillips went down late in the fourth to reignite comeback hopes at 41-50 down with three minutes to go. This was soon pegged back to 5 points and there was an evident nervousness from the CMM camp. Fortunately, a timely time-out called by the Galway-Mayo axis coaching team of De Paor and Murphy settled the nerves, and soon after this a clutch Nathan Gbinigie block with a minute on the clock highlighted his efforts throughout the game on defence, and from this CMM broke down the court to re-establish the seven-point lead.
At this stage it was exciting end-to-end stuff and Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí kept up their efforts to bridge the gap, but it was not to be for the Cork school as Coláiste Muire Máthair held out strongly, bolstered by two excellent baskets from Marko Radevic, to finish the game as champions before captain Colm Davoren hoisted the Pinergy U16B All-Ireland Schools Cup.
Quarter Scores:
Q1: 7-10 Q2: 16-27 Q3: 27-43 Q4: 51-59
Top scorers:
Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí: Charlie Curran 18, Jack Phillips 15
Coláiste Muire Máthair: Colm Davoran 21, Nathan Gbinigie 12, Marco Radevic 10
Coláiste Muire Máthair: Colm Davoran, Marco Radevic, Nathan Gbinigie, Ethan Shaughnessy Harte, Joe Sullivan, Michal Sieradzan, Jakub Tadrynski, Jean Harlemovs, Daniel Ofili, Nara Coll, Noah Munguma Webb, Daniel Assogba
Coach: Sean Óg De Paor
Asst Coach: Michael Murphy