St Colmcille’s denied double
DESPITE a truly gutsy performance, St Colmcille’s Community School, Knocklyon were narrowly beaten 44-40 by St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon in Tuesday’s Under 19B Girls All-Ireland Schools League decider in the National Basketball Arena.
In what was a repeat of the Schools Cup Final back in January when St Colmcille’s emerged victors, this match saw the Tyrone outfit determined to exact revenge.
St Colmcille’s CS were stopped just short of All-Ireland League success
Eimear Hughes, Abigail Rafferty and Bronagh Barker were all on point for St Patrick’s while it was Emma Mullins, Emma Garvey and Abby Steacy netting for Colmcille’s, who led by just two heading into the second quarter.
Rafferty was a force to be reckoned with on the boards, denying the Knocklyon side any second attempts while Barker and Clair Pinkerton, with five points, kept Patrick’s in touch.
Yet Hannah Byrne and Mullins were starting to demonstrate some of their scoring prowess with all of 11 points that helped extend Colmcille’s lead to four by the half.
The third was more of the same, Laura Canning hitting five points with Rafferty and Hughes also getting some scores, but it was Emma Mullins, for the Dubliners, who hit three huge shots from downtown to help push their lead out to 31-26.
Patrick’s needed to get the first score in the fourth and they got it when Canning hit a big three from the top of the key on her way to a further seven.
Rafferty also had seven and controlled the game down the stretch. It was Byrne, Garvey and Claire Davitt who executed for St Colmcille’s, but it was not enough as St Patrick’s clinched the win and, with it, the title.
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