Congratulation to the All Ireland U-19 Basketball who only just lost their All Ireland final with some great performances on the day
Match report to follow shortly.
Until then here is what Basketball Ireland had to say about the match
CLONASLEE EDGE FINAL CLASH
27th Jan 2009
Clonaslee Vocational School had to pull out all the stops in the final quarter to capture the U19 C Girls All Ireland Schools title after a remarkable third quarter by their opponents Limerick’s Hazelwood College looked like spoiling the party for the Laois girls.
With the score at 36-32 and 4.11 left on the clock the game could have gone either way but Clonaslee’s captain Angelina Rigney stepped up to the free throw line before calmly slotting home four frees to finally kill off the game.
The Laois side’s Ciara O’Donavan was awarded the MVP, topped scored with 13 and alongside Nicole Kelly, Rigney and Conroy where instrumental in their side’s All Ireland success.
The winners settled quickest in the game with Rigney leading from the front with two excellently executed baskets before a lay up from Siobhan Conroy gave the Laois School an early 6-0 advantage.
Hazelwood finally put points on the board with a little over two minutes left in the quarter through a lay up from Marie Flanagan while a superb three point play and lay up from Aoife Leahy got the Limerick team right back in the game.
Clonaslee took a 8-7 lead into the second quarter and slowly built up a nine point lead with great offensive play led by O’Donavan and Kelly as they cut through Hazelwood’s defence with ease.
So with a combined scoring of 13 points between the duo the Laois school headed in at the break with a commanding 28-12 lead. However the third period of play was all about one team, Hazelwood, who finally got to grips with the game outscoring their opponents by 16-8.
At the forefront of their comeback was Flanagan who registered nine points from open play and off the free throw line, while baskets from Meaney, Celia Cremin and Leahy handed them the initiative despite trailing by 34-28 going into the final quarter.
Hazelwood kept up the pressure by adding to their score courtesy of inside baskets from Emma Purcell and Celia Cremin but it was coolness personified when Rigney stepped up when they pressure was on that proved the difference.
Pictures from the match taken by Sportsfile – Irelands Sports Photography Agency are available to buy at: