The under 13 boys from Butlersbridge represented the St.Patrick's area in the final of the Cavan community games basketball last Saturday 21st April. It was a fantastic achievement to reach the final, given that the boys only started playing basketball last September.
The boys did themselves proud, putting in a great effort against a much taller team from Erne Valley. It was vital to keep the tall lads away from the basket, and at the start of the game particularly, Butlersbridge played fantastic defence, with Dylan Bartley, John Fitzpatrick and Jonathan Leddy providing the core defence and minimising Erne Valley's chances of getting easy rebounds.
It was inevitable that they would get the ball on occasions near the basket, and when this happened, there was little that could be done by Butlersbridge to stop the scores. Liam Connolly and Emmet Gilroy put in a great effort in chasing the ball at the top of the key.
In offence, it took some time for Butlersbridge to get onto the the score board. The boys battled well, with Liam Connolly and Emmet Gilroy putting in great work to get free for the ball, but without an outside shooter, it was difficult to get scores inside against the taller opposition. Some great passes were made by the boys into the middle of the key, but unfortunately it was too easy for Erne Valley to block the shots. Jonathon Leddy attempted some
long range shots,but unfortunately it was one of those days when the shots just did not fall. The introduction of Shane O'Rourke to the team gave a welcome injection to both the defence and offence. Shane worked exceptionally hard in the defence, chasing every ball. In the offence, he tried hard to get the fast break going but unfortunately no scores came from his efforts. At half time, after 6 points by Jonathon Leddy and 2 points by Dylan Bartley, the score was 15 to 8 in favour of Erne Valley A.
The second half of the game saw the introduction of Killian Donnelly, Kevin Leddy, Frances Smith and Mark McInerney. It's not easy to come on when the game is in full swing, but all of the players put in a great effort, in both the defence and the offence. Unfortunately, the scores were still hard to come by. Butlersbridge tired at the end. Luck was not on our side, whereas for Erne Valley, in the fourth quarter of the match, despite substituting their tall players off, everything that they put up, went in. Butlersbridge scored 10 points in the second half, with Dylan Bartley, John Fitzpatrick and Jonathon Leddy contributing to this tally.
Despite the loss, it was a great effort by everyone involved, and the boys should be proud of what they achieved in their first year in the competition. With just 4 of the players over age next year, and with some enthusiastic players coming through the ranks from 3rd and 4th class, the future is bright for basketball in Butlersbridge !!!
Thanks to Conor Gilroy and Diarmuid McCorry who operated the clock and the score board for the game. Thanks to the parents and teachers who provided support and transport for the various games (both boys and girls competition). Thanks to Gemma Gilroy (and Cavan Shamrocks) for providing the water bottles throughout the competition for both the boys and the girls. And most of all, thanks to all of the players (both boys and girls) who made the effort to come training for the competition, and hopefully enjoyed taking part.
Next year is another year. There is talk of a primary school league being put in place that perhaps we can enter for more game experience. And hopefully, we will also enter the community games again next year with a lot more experience on our side. But we may need to start putting something into the water for a little extra height :-)
Back Row (Left to Right) : Ann McCorry, Dylan Bartley, Jonathon Leddy, Frances Smith, Mark McInerney.
Front Row (Left to Right): Emmet Gilroy, Kevin Leddy, Liam Connolly (captain), John Fitzpatrick, Killian Donnelly, Shane O'Rourke
Comments