Final agony for gallant young men of Muredach's
Cian Morrison of St Muredach's attacks the basket in the All-Ireland U19 'A' Boys Schools Final at the National Basketball Arena in Dublin. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy
The dream of St Muredach’s College to win the All-Ireland Schools senior ‘A’ basketball cup for the first time fell agonisingly short on Tuesday afternoon, as they suffered a 67-58 defeat to St Mary’s of Portlaoise, at the National Basketball Arena.
The nine points deficit doesn’t do justice to how close the Ballina outfit came to glory however, as they entered the final minute just two points adrift and pushing their Leinster opponents exceptionally hard. The game management of St Mary’s down the stretch though, just didn’t give Barry Murphy’s side a sniff at snatching the win.
The Moysiders, who were All-Ireland ‘B’ league and cup champions last year, left too many points behind them on this occasion, particularly during the first quarter in what was the school’s first ever appearance in the senior ‘A’ final. Not that they appeared nervous though, with Cian Morrison firing in a trio of three-pointers during a first-half that saw them take the lead on two occasions but trail 30-33 at its end.
Desmond Ogedegbe scored 14 points in that half for St Mary’s and teammate Cormac Hewson was a dominant figure in the second, scoring 13. And yet St Muredach’s were always there or thereabouts, hitting the front shortly into the third quarter when Mark Cunningham laid up after a fast break. Brian Donoghue landed nine points in that quarter and Cunningham twice tied the game in the early throes of the final quarter, but the Portlaoise boys surged in front again when Ogedegbe nailed his only three pointer of the day.
Nathan Roddy, who worked tirelessly throughout, ended the match with 19 points but his and the team’s efforts were not enough on this occasion to thwart an excellent St Mary’s outfit.
