Maree's Dayna Finn Stars As Ireland beat GB In U20 European Championships

Ireland Under 20 women’s team put in a blistering
performance in their second game at the 2019 FIBA U20 Women’s European
Championship Division B in Kosovo this evening, to run out resounding 72-58
point winners over Great Britain.

This game was always going to be a tough test for the irish team, with plenty
of ding dong battles between the two sides at this age group over the years,
and Great Britain boasting a strong cast that included an extremely on-form
Holly Winterburn. The Irish were relentless from the start though, with Dayna
Finn driving the team forward from the off, finishing out the first half with
17 points and five rebounds to see Ireland into a 42-26 point lead at the
break. She went on to finish with 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a
steal in a fantastic display.

Indeed there were stars all over the court for
Ireland, all notching up some big stats by the end of the game. A huge
performance from Sorcha Tiernan – who finished the game with 12 points and five
assists - as well as massive defensive displays from Claire Melia – who notched
a double double of 11 points and 11 rebounds - and Rachel Huijsdens, who
finished with eight points and nine rebounds, were just a few of the highlights
in a superb performance from the women in green. Maeve Phelan was another stand
out on defense, locking down the threat of Winterburn from early on and putting
in huge work for the team across the four quarters.



Two big quarters in the second and third for the Irish were truly the winning
of the game, as they outscored Great Britain 23-8 in the second and 17-9 in the
third to drive into a big lead going into the final quarter. Although GB upped
the ante in the last stretch, knocking down 23 points in the quarter, the
damage had already been done and Ireland ran out deserving winners in the end.
The win now sees Ireland top their group unbeaten at European Championships and
they have earned a deserved rest day tomorrow as they wait to hear who they
will meet in the next round of the competition, with games in the other groups
taking place tomorrow.

Speaking afterwards, head coach Martin Conroy
stated: “That was amazing. The girls played fantastic basketball. You look at
the second and third quarter today, we held them to nine points and eight
points in both of those quarters, and really pushed out the lead. GB played
tough and we knew they’d come at us hard, but I think our defense was
phenomenal. We rebounded a lot better than yesterday and we were clinical the
other end and we put the ball in the basket.”

The Ireland Under 18 men finished in 16^th place
from 24 teams at the 2019 FIBA U18 Men’s European Championship Division B in
Romania this morning, following a 91-66 point loss to Hungary in their final
classification game.

The boys in green fought hard against a tough
Hungary side, with Rapolas Buivydas finishing the game out with 19 points and
eight rebounds, while Matt Harper had his shooting boots on once more, finishing
out with 17 points for his side. It wasn’t to be today for the lads though as
despite a strong first half seeing them trail Hungary by just four (44-40), a
big run in the fourth quarter from the Hungarians saw them widen the margin
quickly, with Tamas Otto Pallai superb from the three point line, and Gerzson
Radics a big threat inside.  

Speaking afterwards, head coach Paul Kelleher stated: “That was a tough one,
maybe a game too far with the energy levels after yesterday. This is a special
group and they’ve given everything. They had a run in the middle of the fourth,
we were right there. It was just one of those things. These boys have given
everything and have had a tremendous year. A top 16 finish is great and hasn’t
happened in a while... we’ll look back on this as a successful programme.”

The FIBA 3x3 U18 Europe Cup qualifiers also came to a conclusion in Italy today with the Ireland Under 18 men losing out both of their final two pool games. Their first clash saw them lose out 15-10 to group winners Croatia and Ireland were up against it from the beginning as Aaron O’Donovan was ruled out through injury, meaning they only had three players for the game. Good play from Sam Alajiki, Brendan Clark and Andrew O’Connor just wasn’t enough in the end despite a very solid performance, while they went down 20-12 to hosts Italy in their second game.

Reflecting on his side’s performance at the tournament, head coach Patrick O’Neill said, “I’m very proud with how the guys played as the games progressed. We learned to deal with adversity, as losing Aaron early in our second game meant we had no substitutions for the rest of the tournament. All four guys worked very hard and to hold the group winners Croatia and the number one seed Italy from finishing before the time limit is testimony to their effort.”

GAME
REPORTS:

Ireland
U18 men v Hungary: https://www.basketballireland.ie/news-detail/10053992/

Ireland
U20 women v Great Britain: www.basketballireland.ie (will
be on site shortly)

Ireland
3x3 men’s and women’s: https://www.basketballireland.ie/news-detail/10053928/

IRELAND
TEAM RESULTS – AUGUST 4th 2019

Ireland
U18 Men’s result:

Classification
Game 15-16

Ireland 66-91 Hungary

Ireland
U20 Women’s result

Group
Game 2

Ireland 72-58 Great Britain

Ireland
U18 Men 3x3 results

Croatia 15-10 Ireland

Ireland 12-20 Italy

IRELAND
SCORERS:

UNDER
18 MEN

IRELAND: Ronan
Cregan, Matthew Harper (17), Nate Moore, Paul Kelly (10), CJ Fulton (inj.),
Tiernan Howe, James Connaire, David Lehane (7), Daire Kennelly (2), Rapolas
Buiyvdas (19), Sanmi Fajana (11), Leeroy Odiahi.

UNDER
20 WOMEN

IRELAND: Alison
Blaney (2), Amy Dooley (2), Amy Murphy (4), Annaliese Murphy (5), Claire Melia
(11), Dayna Finn (18), Enya Maguire (5), Louise Scannell (5), Maeve Phelan,
Rachel Huijsdens (8), Sorcha Tiernan (12), Maggie Byrne.

IRELAND
TEAM FIXTURES

IRELAND
UNDER 20 WOMEN

Monday,
August 5^th

REST DAY

TEAM
LISTS

IRELAND
UNDER 18 MEN

CJ Fulton, Belfast Star, St. Malachy’s College,
Belfast

Daire Kennelly, Tralee Imperials/Garvey’s Tralee
Warriors, Mounthawk

David Lehane, Blue Demons, Gaelcholáiste Mhuire AG

James Connaire, Moycullen BC, St Joseph’s The Bish,
Galway

Leeroy Odiahio, Tralee Imperials/Garvey’s Tralee
Warriors, Mounthawk

Matthew Harper, Templeogue BC, Templeogue College

Nathan Moore, Limerick Lions/UL Sports Eagles,
Crescent Comprehensive

Paul Kelly, Moycullen BC, St Paul’s Oughterard

Rapolas Buivydas, St. Brendan’s/Garvey’s Tralee
Warriors, CBS The Green St. Mary’s

Ronan Cregan, Limerick Lions, Crescent Comprehensive

Sanmi Fajana, Myerscough College, Manchester

Tiernan Howe, Abbey Seals Dublin Lions, Coláiste
Chiarain, Leixlip

IRELAND
UNDER 20 WOMEN

Alison Blaney, Trinity College Dublin, Maree BC

Amy Dooley, Hobart & William Smith Colleges
(USA)

Amy Murphy, Cork College of Commerce, Brunell BC

Annaliese Murphy, University College Cork,
Ambassador UCC Glanmire

Claire Melia, TU Dublin Blanchardstown, Portlaoise
Panthers

Dayna Finn, NUI Galway, Maree BC

Enya Maguire, Ulidia Integrated College, Ulster
University Elks

Louise Scannell, Ambassador UCC Glanmire

Maeve Phelan, Dublin City University, Pyrobel
Killester

Maggie Byrne, NUI Galway, Maree BC

Rachel Huijsdens, Trinity College Dublin, DCU Mercy

Sorcha Tiernan, Trinity College Dublin, Courtyard
Liffey Celtics

IRELAND
UNDER 18 MEN 3X3

Andrew O’Connor, Presentation Brothers College,
Ballincollig BC

Aaron O’Donovan, St Francis College, Fr Mathews BC

Brendan Clark, European School of Varese,
Pallacanestro Varese (Italy)

Sam Alajiki, Canterbury High School, Kent Crusaders