SUBWAY® All Ireland Schools U16C Boys Cup Final
CBS Thurles claimed an All-Ireland title for Tipperary with a 37-23 victory over St. Nathy’s of Ballaghadereen in the SUBWAY® All-Ireland U16C Boys Cup final.
“They’re unbeaten all year but we had a very tough challenge today,” said Thurles Coach Maureen Gallagher. “It should spur things on here. All the lads here play club basketball as well so it’s a win for the clubs too.”
Sean Mockler was the early focal point as CBS went out to an 8-1 lead midway after four minutes. Patrick O’Gorman took over with three baskets either side of the first break but St. Nathy’s hustled much better in the second quarter and hit the 10 point mark through five different scorers.
Arthur Geronimo’s three-pointer pushed CBS further clear on the way to a 16-8 lead and it was looking like a big ask for St. Nathy’s to mount a comeback. Keelan O’Callaghan looked to cut the lead on the fast-break with long range outlet passes to players on the move. David McBrien got his angles spot on to hit a fadeaway shot from the elbow and Jamie Lunt’s swished three-pointer took a decent chunk out of the deficit.
Sean Mockler had the perfect riposte - a no-look finish from six feet and a two-handed finish from Jorge Ruiz forced a time-out from the Roscommon bench.
St. Nathy’s Head Coach Frances Dunne said: “We’re very disappointed. We knew we’d be up against it but we thought we could catch them out inside and the shots didn’t fall.”
Speaking at the prize presentation, Muriel O’Grady, Development Agent SUBWAY® Ireland said, “Congratulations to the newly crowned SUBWAY® All-Ireland Schools’ Cup champions CBS, Thurles who defeated St. Nathy’s Ballaghadereen in an exciting final that took place in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght today.
The skill and sportsmanship of all the schools participating in today’s finals has been hugely impressive and their schoolmates, who travelled from all over the country to support their teams, should also be congratulated.
The SUBWAY® brand and our network of franchisees all over Ireland are very proud to be supporting basketball in schools throughout Ireland and already looking forward to next year’s competition”.
CBS Thurles: Arthur Geronimo 5, Liam Kenny 5, Patrick O’Gorman 10, Sean Mockler 12, Killian Ryan. Substitutes: Blaine Carroll 2, Jack Ryan, Victor Hemon, Jorge Ruiz, Ciaran Kirwan, Jack Hehir, Patrick Tobin,
St Nathy’s College, Ballaghadereen: David McBrien 6, David McHugh 2, Jamie Lunt 8, Rioghan Lowry, Gerard Forrest 1. Substitutes: Ciaran Guilfoyle, Chris Kennedy, Patrick O’Grady 2, Keelan O’Callaghan 4, Cian Tansey, Jack Craughwell, Adam McAllister, Joseph Waldron, Jack Freeman, Kieran Horan, Neil Dozio, Liam Coleman.
MVP: Sean Mockler
HT: CBS Thurles 16, St Nathy’s 8