Our 1st Year and under 15 Boys Basketball teams played their Regional Finals in Neptune Stadium yesterday in front of a huge crowd. The opposition for both games was Skibbereen and while both games were extremely close affaire it was Skibbereen who took home both titles.
The first year boys played brilliantly throughout the game. Fantastic first half scores from Killian Hurley and Oisín Murphy kept them in with a great chance going into the second half. James Murphy was excellent on rebounds throughout the game. Skibbereen pulled away in the third quarter but a never say die attitude by the Bantry boys allowed them to play their way back into a game that looked lost in the 3rd quarter and set up a really exciting last two minutes where they just lost out by three points. Well done to all on the season so far and best of luck to the boys and Ms Crowne next week as they travel to Castleisland for their last 16 All-Ireland playoff.
The under 15 boys coached by Mr Curran had a fantastic start to their game against Skibbereen. Scores from James Keane and Charlie Curran gave them a 7 point lead after quarter one. In quarter two Jack Phillips was in fantastic scoring form and the lead increased to 14 before being cut back to 10 on the half time buzzer. The third quarter was the quarter that momentum shifted toward a very gutsy Skibbereen team who are very well coached by Ms Maria O’ Mahony. The Bantry drives started to be closed down and their shots failed to drop and each time they missed Skibbereen caught them on a fast break and scored. The calls then started to go against them some being very harsh. When the buzzer went for full time it was level so a three minute overtime was played. Skibbereen got to the free throw line too often in the overtime period and to their credit they converted each time and ran out winners by four points. The CPB boys were extremely disappointed but can take solace in the knowledge that their season is far from over as they have qualified for the All-Ireland last 16 playoffs by reaching the regional final. They go to Pallaskinery next week to play the local secondary school and the prize for the winners is an All-Ireland quarter final in the National Arena in Tallaght. And who Knows, they might come across Skibbereen again before the season is over!
Great credit is due to both teams to get to this years finals and both can count themselves very unlucky. They both can look forward to All-Ireland last 16 playoffs next week.
