U19 Midlands A Semi-Final
Tuesday 21st November – St. Mary’s CBS, Portlaoise
The match started with a highly charged atmosphere, as Marist College faced an experienced Portlaoise side who had knocked them out at the same stage of the competition last year. During the first quarter both teams displayed a variety of shooting and finishing, with the Marist coming out on top with a two-point lead of 19-17. Roan Flaherty found his rhythm early on, scoring 10 points with 2 three-pointers in a row. It was like history repeating itself, however, with St. Mary’s taking the lead in the second quarter with some excellent 3-point shooting. The score was 34-39 as the teams left the court at half-time. The Marist started slow in the third quarter and St. Mary’s punished by pushing out their lead to 40-46 entering the last quarter. The Marist had no choice at this stage but to change tactics moving to a man defence which worked well. The team’s determination, with some defensive steals from Andrew Stuart Trainor, Kian Mitchell and Luke Whelan, allowed the Marist to close out the gap. Mitchell’s phenomenal footwork along with his sharp shooting came alive in the closing stages of the game, clocking up 10 points in this quarter. St. Mary’s called a time-out with 0.2 of a second left on the clock, setting up for a tip to steal the win, but the Marist were composed on defence bringing the game to over-time: 61-61.
St. Mary’s took the lead again with Jayden Umeh hitting yet another three. Followed by a free-throw and a drive to the board, the Marist found themselves trailing by 6 with 40 seconds left on the clock. Unfortunately for the Marist, key player, Kian Mitchell, received his 5th foul and had to leave the court. With the odds stacked against them, team captain Roan Flaherty stepped up, carried the ball up and sunk his 5th three-pointer of the game. The Marist defended well and got a turnover. A timeout was called – 0.6 seconds remaining. Andrew Stuart Trainor inbounded the ball, Whelan set a screen for Roan Flaherty. Flaherty launched a shot from almost the half way line draining the three bringing us into our 2nd overtime with pure shock from that buzzer beater shot. At the end of the second overtime the teams were tied yet again, with the Marist scores coming from a free-throw from Andrew Stuart Trainor, lay-up from Cian Lawless and a three from Roan Flaherty. Heading into the third period of overtime, the Marist received another blow with both Shane O’Connor and Andrew Stuart Trainor getting into foul trouble and getting fouled off. St. Mary’s drove through the Marist defence drawing fouls and converting free-throws to guarantee their win.
Final score: Marist College – 75, St. Marys – 85
Scorers: Roan Flaherty (34), Kian Mitchell (24), Andrew Stuart Trainor (6), Luke Whelan (5), Cian Lawless (2), Cillian McGowan (2), Shane O’Connor (2).