1st Year Ladies All- Ireland Final- Match Report
Last week, the 1st year girls basketball team capped off an amazing season for themselves and for girls basketball in general within the school by winning the All-Ireland final against Ennistymon CS. Having played each other twice this season already, and with both teams having a win a piece, it was a game that could have gone either way. After a couple of morning classes, the team and their supporters hopped on the bus to Dublin for their late afternoon game.
The game started slowly with the first score coming three minutes into the first quarter with the girls putting in a free throw to take the lead. A very defensive quarter ended at 7-4 and the team took a small lead into the second. A change in tactics for the second quarter really paid off for the girls as they put huge pressure on the opposition resulting in a run of baskets to extend to lead into double digits. As the quarter ended, the girls were up 23-8 but they knew Ennistymon would come back firing in the second half.
Into the third quarter and it was relatively even until the last two minutes of the quarter where Ennistymon were able to get 5 points without reply and bring the game back to a 10 point game going into the last quarter. As the 4th quarter progressed, Ennistymon had adapted their game to counter our strategies and brought the scores to within 6 points. A timeout on our side and another change in tactics allowed us to stifle their offence and get a grip back on the game with only 3 minutes left. With the scores still close and a number of players in danger of being fouled up, the last moments of the game were nervy but the girls saw it out perfectly. They led by 7 for the remainder of the game and had a number of chances to extend this as Ennistymon pushed hard to get the baskets they needed. The final whistle blew and the team burst out in excitement as they were crowned All-Ireland Champions, cheered on by the amazing support that had made the journey with them. The final score was 33-26.
Thanks to the outstanding performances of not just this 1st year team, but also the older age groups, the school has been awarded Girls School of the Year by Basketball Ireland. Well done to everyone who played their part in this unforgettable season.
