Another All-Ireland contest for Ennistymon CBS

ENNISTYMON CBS’ U-19 basketball team are through to yet another All Ireland final in mid March in the National Arena in Tallaght.

The first-year basketball team are hoping they too will get to play in the National Arena before the academic year is out. It has been a long road of hard work and training for this team but it has paid off so far. They are unbeaten since October 2010 under coach Tommy Kinch’s guidance. Tommy himself knows all about the joys of winning, having won an All-Ireland medal and he is looking for his second in two weeks’ time with the U-19 squad. Tommy is a leader on the U-19 team and he has been an inspiration to this first-year team.
Their journey began with victories against Galway schools such as St Mary’s, St Enda’s and Coláiste Iognaid. In the first game, they met St Mary’s where captain Liam Devitt (10) led the way with two baskets in the first quarter followed by team mate Seán Garrihy (8), Aidan Collins (4), Jason McCarthy (2) and Eoin Ledyon (2) helping the North Clare side to victory on a scoreline of 28 to 18.
In their next outing, against St Enda’s, CBS pulled ahead with Seán Garrihy (12) the top scorer in the game showing his skill on court. Joe Kivlehan (2) and Eoin Leyon (2) worked brilliantly in defence and also displayed excellent offensive moves and scores. Liam Devitt (4) and Conor O’Loughlin (2) topped up the score to 22 for the winners against St Enda’s 4. Cian Crowe, Conall Haugh, Diorraing McNamara worked hard in defence and had a huge contribution to this win.
In their following game, CBS played Coláiste Iognaid. This proved to be their toughest challenge with the final score at 20 to 16 for the Clare school. Again Liam Devitt (8) was the top scorer and he was helped by Seán Garrihy (6) with both Jason McCarthy and Eoin Collins capturing points from the free throw line. Ronan Murrihy, Cillian O’Donghue, Diarmaid O’Meara and Jason Droney put massive pressure on the opposition’s defence and assisted in keeping this game so close but CBS emerged with a narrow win.
This week saw the first year side take on ‘The Bish’ from Galway in the Regional semi-final on home ground. This was an extremely tight game but CBS produced their best display of basketball to date to record another win, 22 to 20. While CBS were missing key players due to injury and illness, this game showed the side’s courage and confidence on the court. Liam Devitt (16) played a pivotal role as top scorer, moving with ease and energy on the court. Eoin Leydon (2), Joe Kivelhan (4), Jason McCarthy and Conor O’Loughlin played superbly in defence. The game was very close, yet CBS worked hard to stay in control and in front. The Galway side levelled three times throughout the game the CBS displayed leadership and teamwork on and off the court to record another win.