Blaze Basketball Club notes
GAME REPORT – U16 GIRLS V SLIGO ALLSTARS
Blaze under16 girls kicked off their first home game of the season with an impressive win over Sligo All Stars. The first quarter was very fast paced with both teams looking to fast break however it was Blaze who took an early lead with Eimear Quinn in fine form under the boards scoring 11 points in the opening quarter to give the home team a 5 point lead. The Blaze girls continued to push for fast breaks with Laura Kealy and Caoimhe Kelly driving to the basket for easy scores along with Anna Curley, Aoibheann O Grady and Eimear Quinn controlling the boards at both ends of the court. The Blaze girls finished the half leading by 19. The third quarter was more of the same for the home team keeping their intensity levels high and really pressuring the visiting team. Another big scoring quarter would see the blaze girls extend their lead to 31 heading into the final quarter. Blaze continued to play a great team game with 10 players getting on the score sheet and finished out as winners. Top scorers for Blaze were Caoimhe Kelly (14), Eimear Quinn (13) Aoibheann O Grady (11).
Final score – 65-35
MATCH REPORT – U12 GIRLS V DONEGAL TOWN
U12 Blaze Girls travelled to Donegal Town on Sunday 20th November for their second North West League fixture. The girls tuned in to the game right from tip off and with scores from Emma Gribben, Nicole McDaid, Aoibhin Franklin and Gillian Reynolds the girls finished the first quarter with a 12 point advantage (14-2). The Donegal Town girls settled into the game in the second quarter and scored a few fine baskets. Sineid Otoo played very strong defensively throughout the game and made some great passes into Aoibhin Randles who worked well cutting in and out of the key in offence. Half time score was 18-9 in favour of the Blaze girls. In the third quarter Emily Irwin and Sadbh Callaghan put in a trojan effort in defence preventing scores and creating fast break opportunities. With quick and clever passing amongst the girls on turnovers and great rebounding and scoring from Emma Gribben the score at the end of third quarter was 29-11 to Blaze. Emma Johnston, Aimee Bonar and Hannah Hopkins fought hard in the last quarter leaving the final score at 39-11 to Blaze. At the start of the game the girls committed to giving it their all on court and we were left in no doubt that today, they did just that. Well done to all girls.
UNDER 18 BOYS V NORTH STAR, DERRY
U18 boys hosted North Star Derry in the Loreto gym. Blaze had their strongest team performance to date in a game in which each team member scored. PJ McBrearty was MVP with 27 points. Final score Blaze 61 – North Star 48
UNDER 16 GIRLS DEVELOPMENT BLITZ
The under 16 girls development squad were in action in the Loreto gym on Sunday. There were three teams in this weeks blitz ie Blaze, Glenties BC and Kilcar BC. First up the Blaze girls played Kilcar in a fast paced game with scores coming from Laoise Ryan, Brennagh Regan, Bronagh Crumlish, Sara Barrett & Ciara McFadden opening up a 6 point lead at halftime. Strong work under the boards by Lucy Maguire in the second half allowed Laoise & Ciara benefit with fast break scores. Sophie Barnes played well for Kilcar however Blaze won 33 – 14.
Next up for the Letterkenny girls was Glenties in what turned out to be the game of the day. Blaze started brightly and led by 14-9 at the end of the first quarter. Glenties were in no mood the let the Letterkenny girls have it all their own way and racked up 14 points in the second quarter to go in at half time leading 23-16. The second half saw Letterkenny start the quicker with some nice breaks by Laoise Ryan & Ciara McFadden leading to early baskets and leveling the score at 28 points each after 3 quarters. The final quarter was very exciting with both teams trading scores. Strong rebounding by Lucy Maguire, Brennagh Regan & Abbie Logan helped Blaze take control of the game and with Katie Lapsley popping up for a couple of big baskets towards the end, Letterkenny won by 7 points on a scoreline of 42-35. Best for Glenties was Sarah Harkin with both Laoise Ryan & Ciara McFadden best for Letterkenny Blaze.
Elsewhere, 2006 boys on a very well played match against a tough opposition of Donegal Town A team. They showed excellent grit and determination, huge commitment to the match and a great display of skill throughout the match. The under 11 girls played in Donegal Town also. These little warriors are new to competitve basketball but showed well what they are learning in training each week. Under 14 boys too played against Sligo AllStars but were unfortunate to lose the game by the slimest of margins 2 points. Under 16 boys played two games against two different teams from Sligo AllStars. They lost the first but got the win in the second game of the day. Under 14 girls were in action too in Donegal Town. This is a great wee group of well drilled players who display great determination week in week out. They came away with a comprehensive win over their opponents 57-8
