On Thursday our under 19 boys basketball team took to the court in Tallaght, Dublin to play Moyle Park College of Clondalkin in the all Ireland Under 19 final. In what would be the schools second All Ireland final of the day, the game got off to a great start for the Bantry Boys with early scores from Guido Toniolo Cian Keohane and Ethan Hanley. Mark O’ Sullivan was doing a great job at point guard while Eoghan O’ Donoghue was making his presence felt under the boards. Ronan O’ Sullivan and Shane Murnane had great impact, and at the end of the first quarter it looked as if it was going to be a really tight game with a 13-13 scoreline at the break. However the under 19 final took a very similar pattern to the under 16 with the Bantry team only able to score twice in quarter two and three due to the immense defence of the Dublin team. However just as their younger counterparts did the under 19s came up with an heroic effort in the final quarter. Cian Keohane who was outstanding for Bantry added to the scoring, more three pointers from the excellent Ethan Hanley, along with fierce rebounding from Guido Toniolo, Shane Murnane and Eoghan O’Donohoe. Ronan O’Sullivan and Mark O’Sullivan made huge effort to find the high scoring players of the Bantry team. Charlie Curran also made a great impact in what was his second All Ireland Final in as many hours. The Bantry Boys cut the deficit to 9 pints with four minutes remaining however a blitz of scoring from the Dubliners in that last three minutes helped them to 19 point victory. It was a tough loss for the Bantry boys who put in a huge effort all year and can be very proud of themselves to get to the stage given that the majority of the team are back in school again next year.
Team and top three scorers
Cian Keohane (15 points)
Ethan Hanley (11 points)
Guido Toniolo (5 points)
Eoghan O’ Donoghue
Mark O’ Sullivan
Charlie Curran
Ronan O’ Sullivan
Shane Murnane
A big thanks to Sophie O’ Sullivan and Leah O’ Shea for the reporting all week and for the great photos thanks to Miss O’Grady.
