Kelly leads the way as St Paul’s win U19 title

St Paul’s, Oughterard 69

St Vincent’s, Castleknock 52

IT was a Paul Kelly masterclass at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght as the talented Moycullen teenager drove his side home to a comprehensive 69-52 victory over St Vincent’s, Castleknock in the Subway Schools U19 B Boys All Ireland Cup final.

Kelly, who has been making headlines for both his club and country over the last few years, was certainly the star of the show for St Paul’s, Oughterard as he opened his scoring in the first quarter and had 19 points under his belt before the quarter finished to put his side ahead, 27-15.

Quality scoring from Castleknock’s very impressive Lloyd Carolan and UG Roland Onuoha in the second quarter kept their scoreboard ticking over, but all eyes were on defence at that point and looking for a way to halt the unstoppable Kelly. Cian Monaghan and Matthew Tierney were on hand to add more baskets for the Galway side and they were leading well at half time, 47-23.

A dominant St Paul’s kept the tempo at a high pace in the third, with Ryan Monaghan adding more points to their tally, and Kelly and Cathal Walsh all producing good scores to mainhtain their advantage.

Castleknock were dealt a blow as Carolan was fouled out of the game. Baskets from David Nugent and Roland-Onuoha were not enough to close the gap though as St Paul’s led by 62-29 by the end of the third quarter.

A well-deserved rest for Kelly as the fourth quarter got underway saw Castleknock get some good scores on the board early on, to make it 65-34 with six minutes to play.

Fine work on defence set them up for scores from Roland-Onuoha, Nugent and Ryan Monaghan and though Castleknock outscored St Paul’s by 23-7 in that final quarter, the mountain was just too big to climb and it was the Galway boys who were crowned champions in the end, winning out 69-52.

ST PAUL’S, OUGHTERARD: P Kelly (31), C Monaghan (8), J O’Flaherty, R Monaghan (10), A Kelly (6), L McDonagh (3), A Lawrence, C Walsh (3), D Kenny, L O’Connor, M Tierney (8), K O’Toole.