A steely performance by St Finian’s College in All-Ireland Cup Final

St Finian’s College served up a performance of great tenacity and resilience when they faced Ballymakenny College, but it was the Drogheda school who lifted the All-Ireland Under 19B Boys Schools Cup in the National Basketball Arena on Wednesday last, with a scoreline of 59-68.

The Mullingar side certainly opened the game with intent, storming into a 21-9 lead by the close of the first quarter. Dara Keaveney and Alfie Murray inflicted the early damage for the Mullingar side, both players each serving up two baskets from the perimeter. Andrew Opala and Ryan Bell continued to bring the heat on offence, the two combining for 13 points in the opening period with the former draining a sublime three pointer.

Ballymakenny dug in from the outset of the second quarter, Darragh Byrne and Shane Kelly, both landing shots from beyond the arc to reduce the gap to eight points, only to see Jakup Opala respond with a side-line three and two pointer for St. Finian’s. A nice basket from Alex Walsh helped to maintain the gap between the two sides. The Drogheda outfit kept themselves well in the reckoning as Njuguna, Karolis Pileckas and Sean Carr muscled their way in for buckets to haul their side back to within eight of their opponents by half-time (35-27).

They carried that momentum into the third quarter, Njuguna, Pileckas and Kelly all delivering in the paint, while Carr struck from outside the arc to reduce the deficit to just a solitary point. After a St. Finian’s time-out, Co-Captains Dara Keaveney and Andrew Opala showed great leadership to help steady the ship as they moved back into a five-point lead. Some great scores from Andrew Opala, Murray and Bell meant the Mullingar side kept their lead at the close of the third quarter (48-43).

Ballymakenny continued to ask serious questions of St. Finian’s in the fourth quarter, the Westmeath side managing to stay out in front thanks to some timely buckets, including a spectacular layup by Rian Keaveney. The Drogheda side edged into the lead for the first time in the game with just over three minutes left on the clock. The Mullingar side were struggling to score with the fluency of the previous quarters. Ballymakenny refused to take their foot off the pedal, a big three pointer from Darragh Byrne, together with a maximum return from the free-throw line which helped Ballymakenny over the finish line with the game ending, 59-68.

Looking back on the final, St Finian’s coach, Shane Campbell felt the Drogheda side got stronger as the game progressed.

“We got off to a strong start and the team settled well into the game. In fairness to Ballymakenny, they grew into the match as it went on. Our lads played some excellent basketball on both ends of the court. Obviously it’s a tough loss, especially as we were leading until the final three minutes. I’m incredibly proud of the team and what they’ve achieved this year, winning the Midland League and getting to the Schools Cup All Ireland Final. I have to mention and thank the fantastic support we had today from staff, students and parents, the atmosphere was incredible throughout the entire game and meant a lot to the team," he said.

In what was ultimately a very successful year for this team, they can take solace in the fact that their achievements will see St Finian’s compete in the ‘A’ grade next year for the first time in the school’s history. This is a credit to all coaches and players involved in basketball in the school, both past and present.

Quarter Scores: Q1: 9-21, Q2: 27-35, Q3: 43-48, Q4: 68-59.

St. Finian’s College, Mullingar: Jakub Opala, Rian Keaveney, Ben Akinnola, Alan Dzialo, Arthur Vlad, Oisin Durnin, Dara Keaveney (co-capt), Ryan Bell, Andrew Opala (co-capt), Alex Walsh, Omer Yousif, Simba Chidavaenzi, Oliver Brennan, Mohammad Hasaballah, Alfie Murray. Aodhan Malone, Adam McDonnell, Hugh Isdell, Abdul Odusoga, Emmanuel Afolabi,

Top scorers: Ryan Bell (15), Dara Keaveney (10), Andrew Opala (10), Rian Keaveney (9) Alfie Murray (8) Jakup Opala (5) Alex Walsh (2).

Head Coach: Shane Campbell.