Mighty Muredach's win first national senior crown in 17 years

All-Ireland Under 19B Boys Schools Cup Final

ALL-IRELAND U19B BOYS SCHOOLS CUP FINAL

St Muredach's Ballina 63

Presentation De la Salle Bagenalstown 40

A FIRST national title in 17 years was celebrated joyously in the National Basketball Arena when St Muredach's outscored Bagenalstown 63-40 in front of a loud, happy Moyside following.

An impressive first-quarter performance, in which they outscored the opposition by 13 points, laid the foundation for Muredachs' win and while they were quieter in the second and third quarters, a big finish ensured the cup was headed for the Moy on Tuesday night.

The Ballina boys made the early running with James O’Boyle and Brian Donoghue hitting two buckets in quick succession before game MVP Brian Morrison executed from outside the arc to help propel their side 11-4 up.

Matters grew a lot more ominous for Presentation when Nathan Roddy drained two throws from the line and Mark Cunningham served up buckets either side of a three by Morrison, as St Muredach’s led 26-13 at the close of the first quarter.

Jeremy Hla was keeping Presentation in it as he bagged seven in the opening quarter, but the Carlow side really needed to make more stops if they were to close the gap on their opponents.

Instead the turnover rate was favouring St Muredach’s who enlarged the gap to 18 by the half-time break with Morrison and Roddy each taking their tally to 14 by that point.

Presentation did dig in late in the third quarter, putting together a nine-point run that featured a deuce and three from Hla that were supplemented by a bucket from Sean Hanlon.

But two converted free throws by Brian Morrison brought that surge to a close, while Cian Morrison also drained one from the line to keep St Muredach’s well in the driving seat heading into the final quarter.

And the Ballina side were never going to allow their opponents a route back in as Roddy hit all three of his two-point attempts down the stretch and Brian O’Donoghue weighed in with a further four to help keep their side well clear.

“The first quarter gave us a big advantage and we held on to that by half-time” said Muredach’s College head coach, Barry Murphy.

“In the third quarter we fell asleep a little bit, but in the fourth we were very good again, so I’m very pleased with the performance.

“We haven’t won it for 17 years, so this means a lot, and with only two of those guys gone from next year, we’ve an extremely young side for U19 level” he added.

Quarter Scores: Q1: 26-13, Q2: 38-20, Q3: 48-33, Q4: 63-40

ST MUREDACH'S

Cian Morrison, Brian Morrison, Matthew Fox, Conor Bourke, Matthew Leonard, Mickey Caden, Patrick Carr, Nathan Roddy, Mark Cunningham (Capt), James Gil, James O’Boyle, Brian Donoghue.

Head Coach:  Barry Murphy

Top Scorers: Nathan Roddy (20), Brian Morrison (19), Brian Donoghue (12)

BAGENALSTOWN:

Sean Hanlon, Evan Kelly, Adam Doyle, Rian Broderick, Darragh Fitzgerald, Ben Hogan, Conor Dunne Shane McDonald, Ruarc O’Neill, Ben Smyth, Jeremy Hla, Tadhg O’Neill.

Head Coach: Leon Power

Top Scorers: Jeremy Hla (16), Rian Broderick (11), Ben Smyth (4)

MVP: Brian Morrison (St Muredach’s College)