Gort girls do it again

GORT Community School’s U16 C Girls basketball team made history last week when they capped off a perfect year to win their second All-Ireland Schools final on a scoreline of 45-39.

Their victory over Coláiste Chroí Naofa of Cork completed the League and Cup All-Ireland double in 2015 for this talented Gort Community School squad.

With prior experience of playing in the National Arena, Tallaght behind them, Gort opened the match with intensity to establish an early lead. Their tactical game plan saw some excellent points being put on the board with Lisa Della Chiesa, who was awarded Most Valuable Player on the day,  being both the creator and convertor of a number of effectively worked fast breaks.

Edel Nolan, Ciara Helebert and Olga Burke also secured some fine baskets during the opening half through some excellent team play and cuts to the basket. Despite Gort’s dominance at this stage, Coláiste Chroí Naofa’s long and accurate shooting range kept them in contention at all times.

A well finished basket from Áine Murphy just before the half time buzzer gave the Gort girls a five point advantage, but the game was far from over. The second half saw an increase in the Cork side’s momentum.

Following a quick start off the block, it wasn’t long before their tactics began to cause problems.  Aisling O’Leary’s effective attack through the heart of Gort’s defence time and again allowed her to gain a constant route to the basket to tally point after point.

This dominant patch from Cork initiated a change in Gort’s defensive structure to thwart the threat of Coláiste Chroí Naofa’s main play maker. Kate Tarpey, Ciara Helebert and Hannah Keenan helped Gort to regain their composure in defence and to maintain a five point lead heading into the last eight minutes.

In what was a pulsating final quarter, Gort showed true resilience in defence.  At this stage Gort’s captain Olga Burke dug deep to lead the way and despite trying to shrug off an injury, she still managed to secure four points for her team at a truly pivotal stage.

These points were then answered by Coláiste Chroí Naofa’s Myra O’Sullivan who hit two impressive three pointers to bring it to a three point game in the closing minutes.

This time, however, it was Áine Murphy of Gort Community School who replied with an important basket to show her side were never going to give up the fight.

At the final whistle, the scoreline was 45-39.  The historic day belonged to the Gort Community School girls and to their dedicated coaches Pat Bourke, Olivia Daniels and Anne McLoughlin.

“We do a lot of training”, said MVP Della Chiesa. “Every Saturday we train and we were training and playing matches during the mid-term as well. It’s a big help. This is unreal. Hopefully, next year we’ll be back as well.”

Gort CS top scorers: O Burke 18, L Della Chiesa 14, A Murphy 8.