Home News Sport St Mary’s narrowly lose out in thriller

St Mary’s narrowly lose out in thriller

Thursday, 12 February 2009

ST MARY’S College, Rathmines, narrowly lost out to St Joseph’s of Derry in a thrilling Under 19C Boys’ All-Ireland Schools Cup Final at the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght, recently. The northerners had to overcome a very vocal support before claiming a 61-58 victory.   Manning the lines for St Mary's was Nicholas Fitzsimons and Joey Boylan, the latter part of the St Vincent’s team that won the very first Men's National Cup in Inchicore. And the two would have been delighted with their team's start, with the partnership of Ronan Lennon and Niall McCarthy on song with a series of baskets to open up an 11-point lead. But St Joseph’s soon cut into the lead with Hugh Barbour leading the charge. And with 3:25 left in the half, the Mary's lead was down to a point. Although McCarthy put a bit of light between the sides with two frees, St Joseph's player Ryan Stanley then left the game on a knife edge to leave the bare minimum between the sides at the break, 35-34 to Mary's. The third quarter was a see saw affair with St Joseph's, having conceded an early basket, going on an unanswered eight point sequence. That put St Joseph's up by four points and although Mary's were to counter with baskets from Lennon and Daire Hogan, a lapse in concentration allowed the Derry side in for two late baskets at the end of the third, to restore the four-point lead. The final quarter will live long in the memory for the many who attended the epic contest.  Courtesy of some terrific combination play from Lennon and McCarthy, Mary's were back on level terms when Lennon landed his third successive basket to tie the game at 55-55 with four minutes to go. Joseph's came back with a basket and a one-point free from Stanley only for McCarthy to reply with a free at the other end. With 1:20 left on the clock, Quigley had stretched the Joseph's lead to three points. But Mary's came back again with McCarthy rattling the Joseph's basket before converting one from two from the line with 29 seconds to go. Mary's then reclaimed possession off the inbound only for Joseph's to win a free, one of which was converted by Ryan Hasson. It was now all or nothing for Mary's and in the very last play of the game, Richie Maher rattled the basket with the three-pointer Mary's needed to take the game into overtime. *St Mary's College, Rathmines 58 (35) (N McCarthy 23, R Lennon 22), St Joseph's Derry 61 (34) (H Barbour 18 pts, K Stanley 16 points, D Quigley 9, L Harris 11).