All-Ireland glory for Templeogue College
By Stephen Leonard
FOR THE first time ever Templeogue College raised the Subway All-Ireland Boys Under 19A Schools Basketball Cup following a 74-65 point victory over St Malachy’s College in the National Basketball Arena on Tuesday.
Their Belfast opponents had denied them the pleasure of lifting this very prize when they met in the decider some five years ago, but this crop of Templeogue players were determined to go all the way this time around.
Twenty-two points by game MVP Matthew Harper went a long way to propelling them to victory as did other timely scores from Adam Riordan, Sam and Jack Walsh as well as Iarla McKeon who will be now turning his attention to a busy Saturday that will see him line out for both Templeogue Basketball Club’s Under 19s and Senior Men’s teams in their respective National Cup deciders.
CJ Fulton, whose father and grandfather both played international basketball, proved arguably Malachy’s greatest threat, netting 12 points as they edged into a two-point lead by the halftime break.
The match continued in this tit-for-tat vein throughout the third quarter with Templeogue restoring parity early on in this period before edging back in front with big scores from Harper.
Malachy’s squared the match with the aid of Niall Hurson and Conor Cooke, and by the close of this period only a solitary point separated the sides.
The Belfast outfit took the lead in the fourth through Niall McGinnity only to see Templeogue go four up following a steal by Jack Walsh who found Harper inside under the boards.
This was crucial point for Eddie Guilmartin’s side as they shut down much of the Malachy’s attack in the closing stages while enlarging the deficit to secure the All-Ireland crown.
Speaking to The Echo, Coach Guilmartin was delighted with the performance of his side against one of the big forces in school’s basketball, saying “Malachy’s are a well-oiled machine and they know what they’re doing.
“They’re a real basketball school and they’ve been here many many times before whereas this was only our second time [in an All-Ireland Under 19A Final].
“We were in the game without really taking command of it, but I felt we had that little bit of momentum and that little bit more energy.
“Again, our shooting was fantastic. I mean Matthew Harper and Jack Walsh were hitting three-pointers and that really does make the difference.
“We put in a really good defensive display particularly in the last few minutes and the crowd were ecstatic when we won.
“It was unbelievable. The emotion was so high and the school is so proud to have All-Ireland champions.
“For a lot of these players it’s the end of their schools basketball days and, with this cup, they have really finished on a high,” he added.
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