Holy Rosary top Garda Schools Tournament
THE ANNUAL Tallaght Garda Primary Schools Basketball tournament again proved a major success with 20 schools involved in this year’s event, held in the National Basketball Arena last week.
Community Gardai based at Tallaght Garda Station organised this event which has been running for more than 25 years and continues to strengthen links in the area between the schools, youths and Community Gardai.
Holy Rosary won out in the 2019 Garda Primary Schools Basketball Tournament in the Arena.
Teams in the tournament, which was won by Holy Rosary of Ballycreagh, were made up of five boys and five girls with two girls on the court at all times for each team.
The tournament kicked off on Wednesday with some hugely competitive matches right throughout the day that saw St. Killians of Kingswood and Holy Rosary make it through to the semi finals.
Blanca Pliego was on hand to score the winning basket in Holy Rosary’s final group game that saw them edge out a very impressive Scoil Aonghusa outfit.
Day Two of the competition was just as fierce with St Martins of Aylesbury and St Annes of Fettercairn topping their respective sections to secure their place in penultimate rounds.
The first of these semi finals saw Holy Rosary just edge out St Annes 11-10 with Philip Roche, Haliyat Yusuff, Ava Flynn and Junior Antonio among the top performers for the latter while Ross Kelly also made his mark, netting four points.
In the following semi final, St Kilians proved too strong for St Martin’s despite the best efforts of Justin Patrichi and Kayinsola Bamidele.
The final saw Holy Rosary edge a hard fought battle against Kilian’s, enhancing the school’s strong winning record in this competition.
Maciej Chalabis and Eoin Murray stood out for the winners with the former picking up the MVP Trophy, while best for Killians were Casey McGovern, Tadhg Jegberfume, Christopher Thomas and Evie Donegan
As always, the Tournament is backed by South Dublin County Council and SDCC Sports Development Officer Ciaran Farrelly was on hand to present the medals after the final game while Superintendent Ian Lackey of Tallaght Garda Station presented the cup to the winning captain.
“It’s also a super experience for the children representing their schools and playing in the country’s Number One basketball venue” said Garda Pat Courtney.
“A huge message of gratitude must also go out to the referees from Dublin Officials Association who give over their free time to make sure the events are run to the highest standards and give the children lots of advice and tutoring on the rules.
“The staff at the National Basketball Stadium give over the hall for these tournaments on an annual basis and are always on hand to make sure the event runs smoothly.
“Thanks to all teachers involved and the teams that represented each school” he added.
