Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí Boys A Basketball teams played their first ever “A” grade School League games on Thursday and the opposition was Patrician Academy of Mallow.
There are 12 teams divided into two Pools in the Basketball Ireland Schools South Region at both age groups and the top four teams in each section qualify for the quarter finals.
The opening game was a thriller with the Bantry Boys coming out on top.
Eric De Palau was unstoppable driving to the basket with the help of Shay O Donovan and Tom Conlon. There were some great rebounds from the post players both offensively and defensively and Cathal Mcarthy was a massive driving force on defense stopping most of Mallows outside shots.
In the senior game CPB faced a Mallow team with two excellent Irish internationals and the strength of the Mallow team showed in the first quarter where they took a 15 point lead. However the Bantry boys really got to grips with the game in the second quarter with Cian Keohane, Shane Murnane, Paddy Russell, Jack Phillips and Ethan Hanley all contributing scores. Eric de Palau and Cathal McCarthy had excellent spells in the game after already playing the under 16 game. Eoghan O’ Donoghue rebounded both sides of the floor throughout. Although Mallow were the better team on the day, the Coláiste Pobail team who were without Mark O’ Sullivan who has GAA commitments and Charlie Curran (injured) can take a lot of positives from the game and look forward to the rest of the campaign with positivity after a very commendable performance.
Thanks to TY Students Leah Keane and Eva Leah for reporting on the games.
