Basketball – U19A National Cup, Oct 2023

Congratulations to captain Cormac Morris (6th Year) and his squad on a tightly contested victory over St Mel’s Longford in the National Cup.

This game had it all. Slow starts, fast breaks and go-ahead And-1 baskets! In a cagey start, Mel’s made their size difference known and forced the ball into the paint. It took a while for Rock to get going, and we trailed after one quarter by 11-8.  The second quarter was a lot stronger for Rock who led on offence by Point Guard Aaron O’Halloran (5th Year), top scorer with 17 points. Sam Curley (5th Year) poured in 5 of his 14 in the second quarter, leaving Rock ahead 22-18 at the half.

The third quarter was won again by Rock on a scoreline of 11-8 leaving us 7 points ahead at the beginning of the fourth quarter. However, some excellent shooting from Mel’s drew them level with 2 minutes to go. A lot of nervy offence and excellent defence had the scores tied still when, with only 8.9 seconds left on the clock, Oisín Daly (6th Year) drew a hard foul while scoring a layup to earn himself a free throw. With ice in his veins, Oisín sank the free throw to put Rock ahead by 3. Two excellent defensive displays later, the final buzzer sounded and Rock confirmed their place in the All-Ireland Quarter Finals.

We await the results of other games to see who we will face in the quarter final after the midterm break. Next up is the final league game against St. Andrew’s on October 18th.