St Paul’s Oughterard (Galway): 63 Colaiste Ide agus Iosef, Abbeyfeale: 51
St Paul’s Oughterard have one more piece of silverware to add to their collection as they overcame Colaiste Ide agus Iosef Abbeyfeale 63-51 at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght today to be crowned the Under 19 B Boys All Ireland Schools League champions.
This is the second All-Ireland title for the Galway school, having previously won out the Subway Schools U19 B Boys Cup final back in January. An MVP performance from St Paul's star player and Irish international, Paul Kelly, was the talk of the Arena, as he chipped in with a whopping 35 points today to drive his team home to glory. He may have been the leading actor on the day, but Kelly had a huge supporting cast around him with superb performances from Alan Kelly, Ryan Monaghan, Cian Monaghan, Dan Kenny and Matthew Tierney as well.
Both teams made a very slow start to the game and, although there was good defence on display, there were a lot of unnecessary turnovers and missed chances. The first score of the game came from Moycullen super star Paul Kelly as he found the target from the free throw line, but Abbeyfeale’s Dan Kenny responded at the other end. As the nerves settled for both teams, St. Pauls' zone defence proved to be a thorn in the side for Abbeyfeale as they finished the quarter trailing by four, 14-10.
Paul Kelly was on hand once more to get the scoring underway in the second, teaming up nicely with Cathal Walsh and Cian Monaghan on rebounds and defence. St. Paul's had built up a seven-point lead with five minutes to the half, however Muirioch McNulty was in impressive form for Abbeyfeale, and used his speed and agility to his advantage. A McNulty rebound and a Dj Stack fast break saw the gap close to within five points, but St Paul's weren’t finished yet, as with some big threes from Kelly and Tadhg Callanan, they finished the half ahead by 32-23.
The third quarter saw a more determined and driven display from Abbeyfeale and they mounted more pressure on St Paul's. Fighting a nine point deficit, bright sparks Adam Maynard and Mark McCarthy made life difficult for St Paul's as they spurred another run to close the gap to just two points. Nevertheless, with their experience gained from of their Cup final win in January, St Paul's were able to keep their cool and respond with scores of their own.
MVP Paul Kelly was only delighted to showcase the depth of his shooting abilities to the fans, with three pointer after three pointer, while Cian Monaghan and Matthew Tierney were also on hand to add their names to the score sheet.
St Paul’s Oughterard's class and experience shone through in the end, to win out 63-51.
St Paul’s Oughterard: Paul Kelly (35), Cian Monaghan, Joseph O’Flaherty, Ryan Monaghan (11), Alan Kelly (6), Dan Kenny, Caoin Forde, Cathal Walsh (2), Luke O’Connor, Robert Gill, Matthew Tierney (9), Kevin O’Toole
Colaiste Ide & Iosef Abbeyfeale: Gearoid Stack, Muirioch McNulty (8), Dj Stack (7), Adam Maynard (6), John Sexton, Gerard Moloney (10), Thomas O’Connell, Shane O’Connell, Mark McCarthty (18), Ian Horgan, Tadhg Callanan (2), Dylan Daly
MVP: Paul Kelly (St Paul’s Oughterard)
