Coláiste Bríde battle to All-Ireland League success
COLÁISTE Bríde powered clear in the final quarter to see off a tenacious Manor House School 64-53 and raise the Under 16B Girls All-Ireland Schools League crown in the National Basketball Arena on Tuesday.
A nervous start to this decider saw both teams miss some early attempts before the Clondalkin outfit eventually got motoring with some excellent shooting.
Coláiste Bríde players celebrate at the final buzzer
Aoibhin Dunne hit two big threes to go with her opening lay-up and help propel Coláiste Bríde into an eleven-point advantage midway through the opening quarter.
Abbey O’Keeffe and Sarah Bulough also chipped in, but a number of fouls, particularly in attempting to stop the excellent offensive rebounding of Madeleine Duplo of Manor House, were a worrying sign.
Colaiste Bride led 20-7 heading into the second quarter, but Manor House were not about to be easily dismissed and fought right back on to level terms before the break.
Duplo was excellent inside as was Rachel Allen and Onome Akpotar while Emily Brady had three three’s in among her eleven points in this quarter and, with 30 seconds to go in the half, it was all tied up.
Coláiste Bríde were still carving out openings, but the shots were not dropping. Dunne and O’Keeffe did bag a couple of scores as did Eimear Quinn, but the quarter belonged to Manor House.
The third quarter saw defences tighten up on both sides and scores were at a premium. Duplo and Emily Payne located the bottom of the basket for Manor House as did O’Keeffe and Katie Flanagan for the Clondalkin side who found themselves just two points to the good heading into the final period.
Manor House battled hard, but it was Coláiste Bríde who started the brighter, Flanagan and Yusuf planting baskets before Dunne and O’Keeffe found their range.
Brady did all she could with five points in the quarter, but it was not enough and Coláiste Bríde ran out winners.
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