Twelve of our U16 boys travelled to Cork on Friday 16th April to take part in the All-Ireland Club Championships.
We were drawn in a pool with Waterford and Templeogue and our first game was scheduled for 1.45pm on the Saturday in Parochial Hall, Gurranbraher against Waterford. On arriving at the venue we were informed that Waterford had withdrawn from the competition and had been replaced by Killester. Without doubt we had been pitted against two of the strongest teams in the competition.
We tipped off against Killester and at the end of a tight first quarter led 11-10 with scores from D Durkan 8pts, N Watters 2pts and J Brownlee 1pt. The second quarter was again evenly matched but we managed to increase our lead with baskets from J Brownlee 6pts, D Durkan 5pts, and 2pts each for N Watters, P Ferguson and P Byrne to give us a half lead 28-25.
We excelled in the third quarter, playing excellent basketball and we countered everything that Killester could throw at us. We took the third 20-15 to take us to the last quarter 48-40 in front with D Durkan contributing 18pts and D Coogan 2pts. The final quarter was a tense affair as Killester fought their way back into the game with some excellent outside shooting. It was only in the final few minutes that Killester edged ahead and despite our best efforts we couldn’t sustain our challenge for what would have been a much deserved win. Final quarter points from J Brownlee 5pts, D Durkan 3pts and D Coogan 2pts were not enough to prevent us going down on a final score of 64-58.
Our second game was against Templeogue who had also gone down narrowly to Killester in their first game and as one of the fancied teams they had a point to prove. Unfortunately we never managed to get a foothold in the game and we found it very difficult to stop them defensively. They simply outplayed and outscored us in the game but credit to our boys that they never dropped their heads and battled to the end despite being on the wrong end of the scoreline. We went down 85-35 and our baskets came from D Durkan 24pts, P Ferguson 4pts, A Smyth 2pts, N Watters 2pts, D Coogan 2pts and J Brownlee 1pt.
Without much of a break we then took on Kiltimagh and for the first half we commanded the game. At the end of the first we held a one point advantage 10-9 with N Watters 4pts, D Durkan 2pts and P Ferguson 2pts and by the half had increased the lead to seven, 25-18 with D Durkan adding 13pts and J Lynn 2pts.
The third saw Kiltimagh claw their way back into the game to edge 41-37 into the lead, D Durkan 6pts, N Watters 4pts and J Brownlee 2pts to give us a chance going into the last quarter. Unfortunately the exertions of our previous two games seemed to hit us hard and Kilitmagh kicked on to take the last quarter and an overall win 60-46. Our last quarter scores came from J Lynn 6pts, A Smyth 2pts and P Ferguson 1pt.
This finished our schedule for the Saturday and every player had made a valued contribution to our efforts. Our final game was scheduled for the Sunday morning at 10.45am against Kestrels to decide the third and fourth place in Division 3.
With a well deserved rest on Saturday night and a relaxing evening with pizza our boys were revitalised for the early tip off on the Sunday morning. We were quickly out of the blocks and Kestrels had no answer to our firepower in the first quarter as we built up a comprehensive advantage 20-2 with D Durkan15pts and J Brownlee 5pts. The second quarter was a tight affair and shared on 9-9 score with D Durkan 7pts and P Ferguson 2pts giving us a half-time score 29-11.
Kestrels took the third 5-4 with our points all from P Ferguson and with 6pts from D Durkan and 1pt from J Brownlee in the last quarter gave us the victory 40-22 and position 3 finishers in Division 3.
This was an excellent experience for our players and to play against and compete with the top teams in Ireland was the perfect opportunity to show how much our players have developed over the last few years. This our players did with great applomb. Their work rate and skill levels were apparent for everyone to see and there is no doubt that their exploits have put the name of Lisburn City Basketball firmly on the map.
On behalf of the players and coaches I would also like to say a special thanks to our team manager Jacqui Lynn. Without her magnificent organising and planning from the transport to the accommodation this weekend would never have happened. We had a great journey down and back and a super base for the weekend where the boys could relax and enjoy themselves. Thanks.
There are a few photos in the gallery link – check them out.
