1st Year ‘A’ Midlands/South-East Regional Final – SCR Portlaoise 48 Pres Kilkenny 18
2nd Year ‘A’ Midlands/South-East Regional Final – SCR Portlaoise 42 Pres Kilkenny 37
Scoil Chriost Ri were crowned 1st Year ‘A’ and 2nd Year ‘A’ Midlands/South-East Regional Champions following two excellent wins over hot rivals Pres Kilkenny in the finals played last Tuesday in St Mary’s Sports Hall.
SCR have now won three out of four of the Regional Championships having won the U-16 ‘A’ title earlier in the season.
The 1st Years produced an awesome display of basketball in their final, the best by an SCR 1st Year team in many years.
In the first quarter they stormed into an early lead with a blistering display of pressing and fast break basketball and led 13-0 at the break.
The second quarter was just as strong, and the result was not in doubt when they led 34-4 at the break, eventually winning 48 to 18.
The first quarter of the 2nd Year game was like the 1st Year with SCR storming into a 10pt lead, 16-6.
They won the second quarter 10-7 to give them a 13pt lead at the half. Pres Kilkenny, who won the All-Ireland 1st Year ‘A’ Championship last year were not going to go down easy.
They produced a massive third quarter, scoring freely on the fast break to win 14-2 and trail by a single point at the break. At this stage all the momentum was with the Kilkenny girls.
However, SCR steadied their performance, increased the intensity of their defence and began notching vital scores.
It went down to the wire but SCR showed great composure to see out the last few minutes and win a famous victory by five points.
The school now begin an quest for three All- Ireland Championships.
They are already qualified for the All-Ireland U-14 ‘A’ Cup semi-final in the Oblate Hall, Inchicore on Wednesday, March 16, at 11am v Malahide, Dublin.
The 2nd Year A team play a qualifying Blitz on Tuesday, April 1, and the 1st Year A team play the All-Ireland Tournament in the UL Arena, Limerick on the weekend of May 9 and 10.
On their recent displays, they will be strong contenders for all three.
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