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Ulster League Basketball
ELKS 40 Donagh 29
This final was played at the earlier time of 10am so it was an early start and a
long journey for the Donagh girls, this was also the third year in a row that Donagh
had appeared in the under 13 girl’s final and were going for a hat trick of wins.
Unfortunately this did not pan out for Donagh and the better team on the day won
out. Elks played really well, they had their homework done and with a girl like Anna
Maguire who scored a tally of 17pts, they had the Monaghan side on the back foot
from the start.
Ellen Mulligan, Amy Hamill, Celine Nally, Kathleen Connolly and Ellen Molloy started for Donagh but fell 2 pts behind; Celine got Donagh’s first score after a pass from Ellen. Then Anna Maguire took control and shot 2 baskets and it seemed like it was impossible to defend against her, for a 12 year old this girl can shoot from outside, drive to the boards and dribble like a pro. Ellen Mulligan responded with a drive and a free shot and then Celine put Donagh ahead 7-6 for what proved to be the only time.
Rachel Gallagher replaced Ellen Molloy on the Donagh team but Anna scored a basket and free shot to restore the Elks lead and Amy Hamill scored a free shot to leave the score at 9-8.
Eimear McAnespie, Verity O Connor, Saoirse Treanor, Natasha Hughes and Lynda McMeel started the second quarter and this should have been Donagh’s chance to forge ahead, but they started very nervously and made some fundamental mistakes, the Elks made hay and strutted into a 16- 8 lead. Eimear fought hard and scored 2 free shots, Lynda got a good basket too and for a moment it looked like Donagh could make a stand but Elks were technically better and forged ahead again with good shots from C.Cooke and E. Maguire, those two scored 11of the Elks 13. Verity finished the half with a free shot to leave the score at 22-13.
When Amy Hamill scored 2 free shots and a basket at the start of the second half to bring the margin down to 5pts, there was a glimmer of a chance but then Anna Maguire took over, despite some close attention from Celine and Ellen Mulligan she scored 9pts on the trot. Verity scored 2 baskets and Ellen got one but Donagh just could not get the margin down. The score was 32pts – 23pts.
Barring a miracle the game was over and you could see it in the faces of the Donagh girls, on the day they were second best, of that there was no doubt. To their credit they never gave up and tried right to the end. Verity scored another 6pts in this quarter but Elks hit 8pts including a three pointer (a rarity at U 13 girls). Elks came out ahead in all four quarters and that says it all. Still there will be other days as these two meet at other levels. Anna Maguire took all the plaudits and the cup out of Donagh for the first time in 3 years.
Team and Scorers: Verity O Connor 11pts, Ellen Mulligan 5pts, Amy Hamill 5pts, Celine Nally 4pts, Eimear McAnespie 2pts, Lynda McMeel 2ps, Rachel Gallagher, Kathleen Connolly, Ellen Molloy, Natasha Hughes, Saoirse Treanor.
Preview
.13 Girls Donagh V Ulster Elks 10am
It’s an early morning start for the 13 girls when they take on the Elks in the final and this should be a cracker. The Elks just piped Donagh for the league by one point but the final of the top four playoff is the one to win. Donagh played them just once in the league this year and that was on their home court in Jordanstown, the score was 28-27 to the Elks and that one point victory was enough to give them the top spot. Hopefully Donagh will get the better of them on neutral territory.
Both teams had easy victories in their semi finals, Donagh beating Lisburn by about 15pts and Elks beating Towers by the same margin, so the strongest two teams are in the final and that’s the way it should be. The Elks have a tremendous talent in Anna Maguire who is steeped in basketball, her father is the most capped Irish player and her mother who hails from Donagh played for Ireland too and has coached the Elks super league men’s team for the last number of years, Anna will be a threat as will her younger sister, they have two other very decent players who can get scores so this makes them a decent outfit.
Donagh have their qualities too, both coaches have loads of basketball experience, Bronagh played for the Louis Convent and has been part of the Donagh set up from the start and Delma played National League basketball in England and Australia and of course at home in Ireland back in those long distant younger days. More importantly both coaches have daughters on the team in Ellen Mulligan and Amy Hamill who have a winning experience from last year. Verity O Connor, Kathleen Connolly, Saoirse Treanor, Eimear McAnespie, Ellen Molloy and Stephanie Lynch were all part of that winning squad from last year so that might prove crucial. These girls are backed up by Celine Nally, Natasha Hughes, Rachel Gallagher, Lucy McDonald, Susan Kelly, Lynda McMeel, and Ella Moran who are hungry for success; this is a formidable squad of girls.
All at the club and the wider community will wish the girls well on their quest to be Ulster Champions. Whoever can support them Please Do.
U. 13 Girls. Donagh 41pts Lisburn 27pts
Donagh started the first quarter with Amy Hamill, Kathleen Connolly, Ellen Mulligan, Saoirse Treanor and Rachel Gallagher. A mighty start by the Donagh squad saw the girls race ahead with a lead of 15-2pts. These scores were made possible by excellent aggressive defence by each player on court. Amy and Kathleen were like demons at the top of the zone while Saoirse, Rachel and Ellen weren’t going to let any Lisburn player in. The Donagh girls fought for every ball and all of this team play paid off. Ellen was in great form managing to score 10pts in this quarter. Saoirse scored a great rebounding shot while Amy added 1pt from her two free shots. A great start for the Donagh squad.
The second quarter saw Natasha Hughes, Verity O Connor, Eimear McAnespie, Celine Nally and Lynda McMeel out on court. The game was certainly not over yet by any means for the Lisburn girls and they managed to score the next two baskets. After a talking too by the coaches at a timeout the Donagh girls started to focus their game more by tightening up their defence and finding free space on the court which allowed them to add more scores on the board. The first score of the quarter came from Natasha followed quickly by a fast break down the court by Verity. Celine got fouled when shooting which saw her add the basket and gain a free shot. Verity added the next 4pts for the Donagh squad to bring the score 25-7pts to Donagh.
Out in the 3rd quarter were Ella Moran, Ellen Molloy, Amy Hamill, Verity O Connor and Ellen Mulligan. The mighty Donagh squad dominated the court both in defence and offence. Amy scored a great lay-up for the first score of the quarter; Verity added the next to make it 28-9. Amy scored again and Verity followed with another. Verity was awarded free shots but had no luck converting them. Saoirse, Celine and Kathleen replaced Ellen Verity and Amy and Saoirse hit a great outside shot while Celine intercepted the ball and scored from the fast break. Score now was 35-11 to Donagh.
The last quarter saw Kathleen, Natasha, Rachel, Lynda and Saoirse start with Ella and Ellen Molloy coming on later. Lisburn played a full court press and the Donagh girls found it difficult to master. Although the Donagh girls had practiced trying to break a full court press down in practice, they discovered how much more difficult it is to do when the pressure is really on in a game. If one player forgets their position in this drill then it makes it easy for their opponents to pressure and intercept the ball and that’s what happened in this quarter. Lisburn managed to add 16pts by using the full court press while the Donagh girls added 6. Saoirse scored 5 of these points while Celine added 1pt from free shots.
Overall it was a comfortable win for the Donagh girls and its all systems go for the Ulster Finals in Queens University on the 26th against a very strong Elks team.
Team and Scores: Saoirse Treanor (10pts), Ellen Mulligan (10pts), Verity O Connor (8pts), Celine Nally ( 6pts) Amy Hamill (5pts), Natasha Hughes(2pts), Ella Moran, Rachel Gallagher, Lynda Mc Meel, Kathleen Connolly, Eimear Mc Anespie, Ellen Molloy.
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Donagh 36 Blaze 18
The BNI U13 Girls league finished up with two geographically based blitzes to determine the four semi finalists and one of them took place last Saturday in Dungannon, with Towers, Donagh, Letterkenny and Carrickmacross. Unfortunately Carricmacross could not travel so only three teams competed.
The first game of the day was against Blaze Letterkenny, a team Donagh had played at the start of the season. Although the Donagh squad won the game comfortably they did make a lot of work for themselves. Sloppy passes and forgetting who they were marking in defence made it a difficult game to watch at times.
Out first were Verity O Connor, Eimear Mc Anespie, Kathleen Connolly, Ellen Molloy and Lucy Mc Donald. Verity was first to put Donagh on the score sheet with a strong layup. One of her many ball steals in the game saw Eimear pass to Kathleen who was able to convert a fine layup for the next 2pts. Ellen Molloy made a quick break up the court which allowed Verity to add another 2 pts. Lucy rebounding inside saw Verity score the last 2pts of this quarter. Blaze managed to score 2 pts to the Donagh 8pts in this quarter.
Out in the second quarter came Amy Hamill, Susan Kelly, Ellen Mulligan, Saoirse Treanor and Stephanie Lynch. Good defence by the girls laid the foundations for a strong Donagh run ahead and they pushed the lead out to 20-8. Susan and Amy worked aggressively at the half way line to stop Blaze getting the ball to their base players. And it worked well as Amy drove strong to the basket throughout this quarter allowing her to add 2 pts. Ellen Mulligan worked very well inside and had some great blocks of the blaze ball. Her focus on the game paid off as she added another 8 pts. With Saoirse and Stephanie working inside on rebounding, Saoirse added 2pts. Overall score 20-8 to Donagh.
Natasha Hughes and Rachel Gallagher joined Ellen, Verity and Amy in the 3rd quarter. The third quarter tends to be the most difficult quarter of an underage game due to the Pascherelle basketball rules. Blaze tired desperately to gain some ground but it was not to be. Rachel added 4pts and both Natasha and Amy added 2pts each to bring the score 28-12 to Donagh.
The last quarter saw many subs come on and off with Saoirse dominating the scoreboard adding 6 pts and Natasha adding 2pts. Final score was 36-18 to Donagh.
Blitz Team and Scorers: Ellen Mulligan (8pts), Saoirse Treanor (8pts), Verity O Connor (6pts), Amy Hamill (4pts), Natasha Hughes(4pts), Rachel Gallagher (4 pts), Kathleen Connolly(2pts), Eimear McAnespie, Ellen Molloy, Lucy Mc Donald, Susan Kelly, Stephanie Lynch.
U13 Girls.