SLIGO WARRIORS’ girls basketball teams recorded an impressive double

over Kilcar at Sligo Grammar School with both their U.14 and U.16 squads

proving too strong for the Donegal club.

The U 14 girls recorded their fourth win of the season against Kilcar.

With two baskets down the Warriors first score came from A O'Connor and

was quickly followed by a score from A Fox. Kilcar pulled away again with

another basket but C Devaney managed two more baskets before the end

of the first quarter. Warriors proved stronger in the second quarter with

defence and fast breaks . Kilcar managed a score from a free while the Warriors

clocked up 12 points in this quarter . Baskets came from M Donaghy on

two occassions and A Fox on another two. S Oates scored her first basket of

the match following a powerful drive from mid court

R Monaghan displayed fantastic skill at interrupting the opposition’s turn

over and her speed paid off with a great basket to end the second quarter.

With a score of 22-11 in favour of the Warriors at the start of the fourth quarter,

Kilcar had work to do and came out fighting. Although they only scored

once during this last quarter they played well defensively and Warriors just got

two more baskets from R monaghan and A Fox, making the final score Warriors

26 Kilcar 14.

Meanwhile, the Warriors’ U.16 team stretched their unbeaten run to five

games with an impressive victory over the Donegal side.

The Sligo girls led 24-15 at half time and although Kilcar came back strongly,

winning the third quarter 11-9, the Warriors’ finished strongly.

They dominated the final quarter, outscoring their opponents by 16-4, to

record a throughly deserved 49-30 win

The starting five for the U.16s were Aoife Leahy, Matea Leahy, Siofra Kilgannon,

Debbie McGoldrick and Melissa Cryan. Those who came on and made

important

contributions were Ellen Healy, Hannah Monaghan, Rachel Siron

and Zara McLoughlin

U-16 Girls beat Kilcar

13.Jan, Grammar School, Sligo.

 

U 16 recorded another win against much improved Kilcar team and are still undefeated in their 5 games so far this season. It was slow starter from both sides and baskets were evenly traded for first few minutes, with Kilcar having more joy under the boards and picking up good few second chances from offensive rebounding. Starting five for Warriors were Aoife Leahy., Matea Leahy, Siofra Killgannon, Debbie McGoldrick and Melissa Cryan. The Warriors warmed up defensively in second half of the quarter and started to pull away. Matea and Aoife were stretching defence in attack and had great vision to keep Melissa well supplied on the inside and she made sure basketballs were put to good use and ended up in the basket. Debbie and Siofra did a great job defensively, limiting treat to the basket and keeping the ball moving fast in the offence and always a constant threat. First quarter finished 12-6 to Warriors with Aoife’s steal and fast break lay up finishing the quarter. Matea started the second quarter with fast break of her own to pull away to 8 points at the beginning of the quarter. Kilcar came back with score and one from Maria G., and a nice outside shot from Caoimhe B. brought them right back. Introduction of Aine C, for Warriors , increased our defensive rebounding power and she got on the scoreboard as well with a great offensive rebound. With Aoife dropping back deeper under the basket meant there was no second chances for Kilcar. Ellen Healy. came on and together with Matea, Aoife and Melissa ran some great fast breaks. Hannah Monaghan . came on to shore up defences in the second half of the quarter and did very well before she had to come out because of finger sprain. Kilcar responded with couple of breaks of their own and we just edged quarter 12-9 which put us 24-15 at half time. Continuing where they stopped Kilcar started second half stronger and a couple of unforced errors saw them cutting the lead to 5 points midway through the half. Aoife got Warriors on the board with a fine distance shot and introduction of fresh legs from Rachel Siron. and Zara Mcloughan. helped steady the ship and stop turnovers and fast breaks from Kilcar.Melissa continued to be a constant treat under the boards and scored another. Ellen kept her cool to convert both her free throws and Matea’s speed served her well to run another fast break after Aoife’s rebound and converted well to keep Kilcar at bay. Fionna C. had a great quarter for Kilcar scoring most of their points and getting some vital rebounds to keep her team in contention. Kilcar winning third quarter 11-9.Last quarter our girls showed that they meant business and played some great defence which caused many turnovers which tireless Aoife and Melissa converted. Matea taking over point guard duties kept pace going and distributed ball well and got everybody involved, adding a couple of scores herself. Frequent rotations kept defence aggressive and girls responded well and their hard work paid off as they won the quarter 16-4 for overall score of 49-30 for the fifth win. Well done to our girls, they are working hard for each other and it is paying off