Finn leads the way as Maree women sweep to Irish title

Maree BC 71

Limerick Celtics 42

JUST six months after reforming, following a near seven year absence from action, Maree Basketball Club’s senior ladies side have been crowned All-Ireland champions after capturing the Hula Hoops Women’s Intermediate Cup with a resounding victory over Limerick Celtics at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght on Saturday.

The side, which was made up almost exclusively of players who have come up through the juvenile ranks at the club, were Galway’s only representatives on national finals weekend, and they took home the cup in style thanks to top-drawer point scoring and an excellent defence.

Team coach, Joe Shields, approached some former players back in July and August about reforming the club’s senior women’s side, and the move has paid off: they are unbeaten this season, lead the Galway League by four points with five games remaining, and have now landed a national title at the first time of asking.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect to win it. The team was put together in August, and I entered the national cup without telling them, but this is a very special group of players, there is a great spirit within the squad, and it says a lot that the vast majority of them have all come up through the ranks at the club,” Shields said.

Team captain, Michelle Fahy, started with the club when she was 12, and 18 years after lining-out alongside Gail Hanniffy to claim the Senior Schools’ Cup title with Calasanctius College, the pair took to the court again on Saturday to secure another national title.

Dayna Finn, who was voted MVP in the final, joined the club in recent years from her native Mayo; while Rosalia Vasquez came on board after moving to Galway from Spain, but those two players apart, every other member of the squad has come up through the academy and juvenile ranks with the club.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.