COLÁISTE CHOLMCILLE, BALLYSHANNON made it a double success for Donegal on day one of the Subway All Ireland Schools Cup finals with victory in the U16B Girls competition.
Coláiste Choilmcille Ballyshannon 42 Regina Mundi Cork 31
By Ross O’Donoghue
Ballyshannon had the first two buckets of the game through Ana Keon but were calling a time-out once Regina Mundi got fired up and Amy O’Dwyer and Liz Burke got on the score sheet.
Emma Rooney leveled the scores at 7-7 for the first quarter and Coláiste Cholmcille opened up a 19-11 lead with plenty of hustle on defence and a euro-step finish from Keon.
Picture caption: Coláiste Cholmcille players and coaches celebrate with the cup after the game. Picture by INPHO/Cathal Noonan
The Cork school opted to focus on the fast break to get around the man-to-man defence and it was soon playing dividends.
Katie Walshe’s timing and movement earned her an eight-point quarter and with Ellie Leen’s three-point play, Regina Mundi were 20-19 ahead at half time.
The half-time break did wonders for Coláiste Cholmcille. Saoirse McDevitt and Katie Slevin drained their first attempts before Emma Rooney took over with an eight-point run of her own.
Regina Mundi went to a zone defence and it looked to be pushing Coláiste Cholmcille out of shooting range.
Free throws were bringing the scores closer together until Tara Duffy drained a three-pointer and put in a massive block on defence.
It was at that stage the bodhrán wielders in Ballyshannon’s travelling faithful knew the Cup was theirs and the Poznan soon followed.
“The girls had the heads right to be honest,” said winning Coach Julianne Murphy. “We just told them to keep control of the ball and don’t let the other team dictate the pace and it came out well in the end.”
Regina Mundi College Cork: Amy O’Dwyer 3, Lia Burke 4, Emma Hughes 2, Ellie Leen 3, Katie Walshe 13. Substitutes: Ruth Healy 3, Aibhin O’Brien, Meabh O’Callaghan, Kate Lyons 2, Tara O’Regan 1, Stephanie O’Shea, Olivia O’Connor
Colaiste Choilmcille, Ballyshannon: Emma Rooney 16, Andrea McGlynn 2, Saoirse McDevitt 3, Ana Keon 10, Tara Duffy 3. Substitutes: Alannah Heatley Ryan 4, Valerie Harley, Katie Slevin 4, Megan Davitt, Sarah Drummond, Sarah Roberts, Rionach Sheerin
MVP: Emma Rooney
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