Mixed Fortunes for Scoil Chriost Ri Basketballers
Scoil Chriost Ri had mixed fortunes at the Midlands/South East Regional A Basketball Finals recently. It was a great achievement for the school to have both A teams in the final considering the enhanced region is the biggest in the country including, Laois, Offaly, Westmeath, Longford, Kildare, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford and Tipperary.
Midlands/South East Regional Finals
U19A SCR Portlaoise 48 Presentation Kilkenny 29
U16A SCR Portlaoise 25 Loreto Kilkenny 45
The Senior A team led from start to finish against Presentation Kilkenny, leading 12 to 9 after the 1st quarter and 24 to 16 at the half time. A very strong 3rd quarter stretched their lead to 16 and despite their outside shooting going cold early in the final quarter, they finished strong to win by 19pts. The foundation of their victory rested on a very strong box and one defence coupled with multiple scoring threats from fast break, perimeter shooting and strong post play. This was great win for a very young Senior A team and they now look forward to a home All-Ireland Last Sixteen game after Christmas.
The U16 A team lost out to a strong Loreto Kilkenny side who played superbly throughout. The Chriost Ri players will be disappointed with their performance in this final, starting very nervy and never getting to grips with the game especially on offence. Twenty five points is a very low score for this very talented team. They qualify for an away All-Ireland Last Sixteen game after Christmas. Before that however, they have an All-Ireland Cup semi-final to look forward to in the UL Arena on Thursday December 8th against Mounthawk Community School, Tralee. They will need to recover the excellent form that saw them overcome Cork schools St Angela’s and Carrigtwohill in the Last Sixteen and Quarter-Final respectively if they are to make it to the National Arena for the All-Ireland Final in January.
Senior A
Rachel Byrne and Ella McNulty [Co-Captains], Stephanie Abrama, Shannon Quigley, Ella Hanamy, Niamh Fitzpatrick, Teaghan O’Reilly, Aisling Fleming, Ella Flanagan, Roisin Murphy, Chloe Byrne, Faye Brown
U16 A
Roisin Murphy and Chloe Byrne [Co-Captains], Faye Brown, Cara Coleman, Margaryta Shabanova, Ciara Keenan, Ella Beere, Aoibheann Phelan, Kaleigh Dunne, Ailphe Carroll, Sarah Corrigan, Emily Conroy, Shauna Lalor, Kandece Ryan
The school’s 1st and 2nd Year teams are busy preparing for their championships after in the new year.