Blaze go on the attack again
Letterkenny Blaze 103 Blackwater Steelers 44
Letterkenny U18 Men got back into action against Blackwater Steelers, from Monaghan, in Loreto Gym last Sunday morning with an emphatic win.
The Letterkenny team started brightly and moved the ball well in offence resulting in a nice inside finish from Matthew Deeney. This was quickly followed by accurate shooting from the free throw line by Tadgh Hickey and a successful 3 point shot from team captain, Cian Hickey.
Blackwater Steelers also started well and answered with 3 well taken scores to stay within one point in the early exchanges.
This was the closest the Monaghan team would get to Blaze as the Letterkenny team worked hard in defence winning important rebounds under their own basket. Controlling their own boards allowed Letterkenny step into another gear and a variety of scores from Andrew McGeever, Cian & Tadgh Hickey would leave the score at 28 to 15 in Blaze’s favour at the end of the first quarter.
Oisin Clarke and Sean McGettigan came off the bench in the second quarter and made an immediate impact with Oisin claiming some big rebounds and Sean getting 5 out of Letterkenny’s first 7 points of the quarter. The momentum was now with Blaze and they ran the ball well to finish the first half 44 to 24.
The third quarter started on a similar vein as the previous two with Blaze in full control. Quick baskets by Andrew McGeever and Cian & Tadgh Hickey extended the lead to 30 points. Jack Lawlor, Kevin Kealy, John MacIntyre and Raymond Rodgers came off the bench to join Peter Lynch on court during the 3rd quarter and continued moving the ball up the court with pace and picked off some fine scores. The Blaze defence continued to pressure the ball and Steelers were restricted to shooting difficult shoots from long range leaving the score 71 to 38 going into the final quarter.
Kevin Kealy started the fourth quarter at the point and found Peter Lynch and Jack Lawlor in space to get early baskets from fast breaks for Blaze. The magic 100 was now in Letterkenny’s sight and they kept up a fantastic pace while continuing to stretch their lead. Six different players scored in the final quarter for Blaze and winning this quarter by 32 points to 6 allowed the Letterkenny men finish with an impressive 103 points in total.
Next up for the U18 men is an away trip, next Saturday, to Newry Fliers.
Letterkenny Blaze Team
Kevin Kealy, Tadgh Hickey (24), Matthew Deeney (2), Cian Hickey (20), Raymond Rodgers, Andrew McGeever (34), John MacIntyre (2), Sean McGettigan (5), P Lynch (10), Jack Lawlor (2), Oisin Clarke (4)
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