Moycullen Girls take All Ireland Crown
Moycullen U14 Girls basketball team captured the All Ireland Club championship in Portarlington over the weekend in dramatic circumstances. The girls topped their group beating both St Marys, Castleisland & Sligo Warriors on Saturday, going forward to play Limerick Celtics in the Division 1 semi final on Sunday. Trailing for most of the semi final, the girls finally got their noses in front in the 4th quarter and held possession to run down the clock, winning on a 34 – 32 scoreline. The final paired them against surprise packets Killinkere who beat a fancied Brunell team from Cork in their semi. The game proved to be a thrilling affair with Moycullen getting off to a great start and leading 14- 4 after the first quarter. Killenkere came back strongly to reduce the deficit to 3 at half time and eventually taking the lead with 3:30 remaining on the clock in the fourth. But the Moycullen girls refused to buckle and scored five unanswered points to regain the lead.. Again at the close, the team showed great composure holding possession to close out the game to take the All Ireland title 35 -33. Catherine Connaire with 14 points and Sorcha White with an awesome game under the boards led the way for Moycullen All of the girls played great basketball over the weekend and were a great credit to themselves, their coach Paul O’Brien and Moycullen.
Squad Picture:
Back: Charlie Hosty, Kate O’Brien, Amy Cooke 2, Sorcha White 7, Louise Hosty, Áine McDonagh 2, Mollie Finn, Paul O’Brien, Julie O’Brien
Front: Chloe Conroy, Aisling Corcoran, Ailbhe Davoren 2, Megan O’Donnell 4, Laura Corcoran 2, Catherine Connaire 16.
Moycullen U14 Girls basketball team captured the All Ireland Club championship in Portarlington over the weekend in dramatic circumstances. The girls topped their group beating both St Marys, Castleisland & Sligo Warriors on Saturday, going forward to play Limerick Celtics in the Division 1 semi final on Sunday. Trailing for most of the semi final, the girls finally got their noses in front in the 4th quarter and held possession to run down the clock, winning on a 34 – 32 scoreline. The final paired them against surprise packets Killinkere who beat a fancied Brunell team from Cork in their semi. The game proved to be a thrilling affair with Moycullen getting off to a great start and leading 14- 4 after the first quarter. Killenkere came back strongly to reduce the deficit to 3 at half time and eventually taking the lead with 3:30 remaining on the clock in the fourth. But the Moycullen girls refused to buckle and scored five unanswered points to regain the lead.. Again at the close, the team showed great composure holding possession to close out the game to take the All Ireland title 35 -33. Catherine Connaire with 14 points and Sorcha White with an awesome game under the boards led the way for Moycullen All of the girls played great basketball over the weekend and were a great credit to themselves, their coach Paul O’Brien and Moycullen.
Squad Picture:
Back: Charlie Hosty, Kate O’Brien, Amy Cooke 2, Sorcha White 7, Louise Hosty, Áine McDonagh 2, Mollie Finn, Paul O’Brien, Julie O’Brien
Front: Chloe Conroy, Aisling Corcoran, Ailbhe Davoren 2, Megan O’Donnell 4, Laura Corcoran 2, Catherine Connaire 16.
Moycullen stage comeback Lazarus would have been proud of!
Moycullen girls won the U14 County title in the Kingfisher Sunday morning in one of the most enthralling matches and nailbiting finishes ever witnessed at this venue. Moycullen started well, Chloe Conroy scoring two early baskets, continued to keep the pressure on thro’ the first three quarters establishing an eight point lead into the fourth, playing great defence and nailing some great shots from outside. Corrib, as expected relied heavily on a zone defence which the girls found difficult to penetrate but the shooting of Megan O’Donnell in particular kept the scoreboard ticking over as she turned in her best performance of the season. Inexplicably, the title within their grasp, Moycullen started to fade as Corrib piled on the pressure with Caoimhe Keogh prominent. Her eight points in the fourth (15 in total) turned the game on its head and Corrib lead by three with fifteen seconds on the clock and also had possession. Moycullen stole the ball as Corrib crossed halfway & coach Paul O’Brien immediately called a time-out. With two seconds on the clock, Moycullen set up their last play. The ball was inbounded to Amy Cooke, showing great composure & maturity, nailed the three pointer on the buzzer to bring the game to overtime. Corrib were shellshocked – losing a five point lead with 17 seconds to go. Moycullen supporters went wild with ecstasy as their team dominated the three minutes overtime with Ailbhe Davoren injecting much needed drive & tenacity which had been missing in that final few minutes. Catherine Connaire popped in a free throw in O/T to give the girls the lead once more & Megan O’Donnell capped her great performance with the last basket of the day. The team now looks forward to the Club All Irelands in the Midlands over the 14th /15th April
Squad: Áine McDonagh 5, Ailbhe Davoren, Amy Cooke 9, Catherine Connaire 4, Chloe Conroy 4, Kate O’Brien , Louise Hosty, Megan O’Donnell 18, Mollie Finn , Aisling Corcoran, Laura Corcoran.
Moycullen girls won the U14 County title in the Kingfisher Sunday morning in one of the most enthralling matches and nailbiting finishes ever witnessed at this venue. Moycullen started well, Chloe Conroy scoring two early baskets, continued to keep the pressure on thro’ the first three quarters establishing an eight point lead into the fourth, playing great defence and nailing some great shots from outside. Corrib, as expected relied heavily on a zone defence which the girls found difficult to penetrate but the shooting of Megan O’Donnell in particular kept the scoreboard ticking over as she turned in her best performance of the season. Inexplicably, the title within their grasp, Moycullen started to fade as Corrib piled on the pressure with Caoimhe Keogh prominent. Her eight points in the fourth (15 in total) turned the game on its head and Corrib lead by three with fifteen seconds on the clock and also had possession. Moycullen stole the ball as Corrib crossed halfway & coach Paul O’Brien immediately called a time-out. With two seconds on the clock, Moycullen set up their last play. The ball was inbounded to Amy Cooke, showing great composure & maturity, nailed the three pointer on the buzzer to bring the game to overtime. Corrib were shellshocked – losing a five point lead with 17 seconds to go. Moycullen supporters went wild with ecstasy as their team dominated the three minutes overtime with Ailbhe Davoren injecting much needed drive & tenacity which had been missing in that final few minutes. Catherine Connaire popped in a free throw in O/T to give the girls the lead once more & Megan O’Donnell capped her great performance with the last basket of the day. The team now looks forward to the Club All Irelands in the Midlands over the 14th /15th April
Squad: Áine McDonagh 5, Ailbhe Davoren, Amy Cooke 9, Catherine Connaire 4, Chloe Conroy 4, Kate O’Brien , Louise Hosty, Megan O’Donnell 18, Mollie Finn , Aisling Corcoran, Laura Corcoran.
Moycullen U14 complete league program with a 7 & 1 record
Moycullen 45 Bearna 48
Moycullen put in their poorest defensive display in some time going down by three points to Bearna on their home court last week. The girls have rarely conceded thirty points so 48 was very much unknown territory. As with the game in the Columban Hall before Christmas, the girls started very slowly and were 17 -9 down after the first quarter before a rousing seconds quarter saw them led by two at the break. The third & fourth were very close with never more than 4 between the sides. Moycullen levelled the scores with a three point play with 90 seconds on the clock but their defensive shortcomings proved too much and Bearna closed out the game ….
Squad: Áine McDonagh 9, Ailbhe Davoren 2, Amy Cooke 2, Catherine Connaire 13, Chloe Conroy, Kate O’Brien 5, Louise Hosty, Megan O’Donnell 6, Mollie Finn 6, Aisling Corcoran, Laura Corcoran 2.
Moycullen 35 Claregalway 33
Moycullen U14 girls completed their league campaign with a win in Claregalway against the U14 cup winners. The final score reflects the difference between the teams on the night as Claregalway really upped their game as they chased their first win in the league. In the end they came up just a bit short and will have to wait until next year to compete for silverware. For Moycullen, they now have the League final against local rivals Corrib to look forward to on March 4th in NUIG.
Squad: Áine McDonagh 5, Ailbhe Davoren 4, Amy Cooke 4, Catherine Connaire 11, Chloe Conroy 2, Kate O’Brien, Louise Hosty, Megan O’Donnell 3, Mollie Finn, Aisling Corcoran, Laura Corcoran, Sorcha White 6..
14 Girls league – Oranmore Feb 5th.
Moycullen 49 : Maree 29
Moycullen moved to a 6 & 0 league record after a twenty point win over Maree in Calascantius on Sunday morning. The girls made a blistering start leading 14 to 4 after the first quarter , and winning the 2nd also but explicably fell asleep in the third losing it on a score line of 14 – 7. The positives to be gained from this game were an exceptional fast break, some excellent steals by Mollie Finn and at the end of the day, the girls found that extra gear when they needed it. Still work in progress but lots of talent yet to be fulfilled!
Squad: Áine McDonagh 9, Ailbhe Davoren, Catherine Connaire 14, Chloe Conroy 6, Kate O’Brien, Louise Hosty 2, Megan O’Donnell 4, Mollie Finn 6, Amy Cooke 2, Sorcha White 2, Aisling Corcoran 2, Laura Corcoran 2.
Moycullen Girls U14 B Team Vs Bearna – Killannin February 8th
The Moycullen girls had a convincing win over their Bearna Counterparts in Killannin on Wednesday last on a score line of 39 to 22. There were strong performances all around the court – but special mention must go to Jean Hynes & Maria Burke who contributed ten points each. The teams were very evenly matched with Bearna leading by a point after the first quarter. Moycullen lead by two at half time break but it was only in the last where the girls really cut loose outscoring Bearna 12 to zero.
Squad: Aisling Connor, Lorna Walsh 2, Fiona Claffey 4, Róisin Buckley, Andrea Noone, Allanah McIntyre 3, Ellie May Sutton 6, Jean Hynes 10, Romy Cunningham 4, Maria Burke 10.
Moyculle Girls U14Bs
