Maree U.18 basketballers just come up short

Date Published: 18-Sep-2009

HAVING successfully defended the Under 20 title the previous week, Maree basketballers headed to Cork again on Saturday, this time to defend the under 18 title, the Michael Heffernan Memorial Cup. They did themselves proud, getting to the final, where they had to give way to a very good Éanna side from Dublin.
The Michael Heffernan comprised 12 teams, divided into four pools of three, and Maree were in the toughest, alongside Neptune of Cork and Tramore of Waterford. They had earlier just scraped by Tramore, with three points to spare. Maree led 11-10 after the first quarter, with big Ken Hansberry good for 10 of them.
By the half however, Neptune had stormed back to take a 24-18 lead, despite two from Colm O’Hagan and three from Enda Walsh. In the third, Maree retook the lead to go into the final period 34-32 ahead as Neptune struggled inside with the height of Walsh and Hansberry.
They hung on to win 41-38, and the Tramore game was going to determine who went home, and who went through; a Maree loss by four points or more would end their title defence.
Tramore took the first quarter 10-9, and by the half, were 23-15 up and looking good. Maree dug deep, and defensive intensity stepped up. Ciaran Harte, Éanna Malone, O’Hagan, Pádraig Burke and Walsh chipped in with scores, and Hansberry hit two big threes, to cut the deficit to 27-28 going into the fourth quarter.
Maree then overtook Tramore and pulled away for a 42-37 win and a place in the quarter-finals. Their opponents in the first round of the knockout phase were Glanmire, and Maree dominated from the tip-off, building a healthy 16-7 first quarter lead.
Some of the younger players, including 13-year old Dominic Czabo, had opportunities to show what they could do, and Czabo, Ronan O’Donnell, Alan Dempsey and John Evans all impressed. The final score was an impressive 54-19 Maree win.
At this stage, Moycullen, Clare Crusaders, Neptune A and B, Tramore, Limerick Lakers and Fr Mathews had all been eliminated. The semi-finals match-ups were Ballincollig versus Éanna and Blue Demons versus Maree. The Demons game was Maree’s best performance of the day.
Right from the start, they Cork team was behind, and Maree never took their foot off the gas, leading 21-8 at the half and going on to a comfortable 56-40 win, with all players performing well. Meanwhile, Éanna had edged Ballincollig 44-37, and so Maree took to the floor to defend their title against the Dubliners.
Éanna started stronger and built up a ten point lead that Maree simply could not reduce, despite a never-say-die approach to the final buzzer, with O’Hagan prominent. The cup headed Liffeyside, on a 47-32 final score.
Maree now move on to the defence of the Under 18 National Cup they won in both 2008 and 2009. They can take heart from the Michael Heffernan Memorial, given the ’flu had deprived them of three players before they headed for Cork, and hit two of them while there.
Nonetheless, Éanna showed themselves to be serious contenders. One of the four National Cup preliminary tournaments is scheduled for Oranmore, on the last weekend in September, and will feature Maree, Ballina, Limerick Lakers, Tolka Rovers and Éanna, with the top two to progress to the knock-out phase.
Colm O’Hagan, Ken Hansberry and Ciarán Harte all featured on the Maree U20 team that won in Cork the previous weekend and showed the same good form. All in all, a great start to the season.