Maree club dominate Galway
Date Published: {J}
THE annual climax of underage basketball in Galway is Finals Day. The tradition continued in the new NUIG Gym on Saturday last as boys and girls from all over the county came together to contest the A and B finals.
The gym was awash with colour and excitement all day long, as families, fans and friends cheered, groaned, clapped and encouraged at every twist. Nerves were frayed and fingernails chewed. Congratulation and commiseration in equal measure, followed each final buzzer.
Every club took at least one title on the day. All the young players, more than 200, were winners. The mammoth event was expertly staged by the Juvenile Board, coaches, referees, table officials and volunteers. Moycullen and Maree Superleague and National League stars presented the cups and medals.
Maree won five of the ten A finals, with Bearna, Claregalway, Moycullen, Corrib and Clare Cascaders taking one apiece. Maree will go on to represent Galway at the All-Ireland Club Championships in Cork (U14 and U16 Boys), Mohill (U14 Girls) and Dublin (U16 Girls).
Of the eight B finals, Claregalway and Corrib won three each, and Bearna and Titans one apiece. Between A and B finals, Moycullen contested nine and Maree eight.
The Girls Under 15A Final was a cliff-hanger, and it took a period of overtime to separate the teams, with Corrib getting past Maree by one point. The other one-pointer was the Under 13B Girls final, with Corrib again edging it, this time over Bearna.
The Under 12A Girls final also went down to the wire, with the Bearna girls turning the tables on Corrib by two points. Maree’s Under 16 Boys racked up 77 points in their win over Moycullen, the highest tally in the Finals. Next highest total was 50, hit by the Maree Under 16 girls in their defeat of Corrib.
Results - Boys Under 12 A: Maree 36 Moycullen 9; Under 12 B: Titans 17 Bearna 9. Girls Under 12 A: Bearna 7 Corrib 5; Under 12 B: Claregalway 20 Moycullen 18. Boys Under 13 A: Maree 33 Moycullen 20; Under 13 B: Corrib 18 Bearna 17. Girls Under 13 A: Moycullen 31 Maree 19; Under 13 B: Bearna 14 Moycullen 9. Boys Under 14 A: Maree 45 Moycullen 36; Under 14 B: Corrib 33 Titans 16; Girls Under 14 A: Cascaders 32 Maree 19; Under 14 B: Corrib 17 Bearna 9. Boys Under 15 A: Claregalway 40 Moycullen 32; Girls Under 15 A: Corrib 26 Maree 25; Boys Under 16 A: Maree 77 Moycullen 29; Under 16 B: Claregalway 33 Titans 24; Girls Under 16 A: Maree 50 Corrib 24; Under 16 B: Claregalway 23 Moycullen 17.