Hazelwood College’s U19 Basketball team advance to All Ireland Semi- Final
Hazelwood College’s U-19 girls basketball team advanced to the semi-finals of the Irish Schools’ Cup after a thrilling one point victory over an excellent Stella Maris side in Tramore on Monday.
Stella Maris dominated the initial exchanges with some strong driving by their inter-county star Aisling Hennebry. The Tramore side raced into an early six point lead as Hazelwood struggled to come to terms with the blistering attack. Hazelwood called a timeout, rearranged their defence and succeeded in stemming the strong Tramore tide. Baskets by MVP Emma Purcell and Maire Flanagan narrowed the gap to two points by the end of the quarter.
Hazelwood settled quickly in the second quarter but were not able to bridge the two point margin. Significantly though for the Dromcollogher side, five different players scored in this quarter underlining the strength in dept of the team. Celia Cremin scored from the free throw line while both Miriam Noonan and Vickie Harnett hit the net twice. A superb breakaway layup from Ciara Meaney and solid defensive play by Aoife Leahy had the team feeling confident as the half time buzzer sounded.
Strong contributions by both Jennifer Roche and Maria Korpesiova in the third quarter allowed Hazelwood to take the lead for the first time in the match. Emma Purcell, in devastating form under the basket, left carnage in her wake. Excellent distribution of the ball by Vickie Harnett and outstanding defence by Celia Cremin, Miriam Noonan and Jennifer Roche kept the Tramore side under control. Three baskets in a row from Maire Flanagan followed by another from Ciara Meaney saw Hazelwood finish the quarter with a three point advantage.
Stella Maris came out fighting in the final quarter, throwing everything including the proverbial kitchen sink at the Dromcollogher outfit. Hazelwood dug deep with Aoife Leahy to the fore in repelling the Tramore onslaught. Excellent shooting by Tramore from the free throw line narrowed the margin to just one point but Hazelwood were not to be denied. Congratulations to all the players and subs that never gave up and were still running hard when the final buzzer sounded.