The Letterkenny Blaze under 10 boys made their competitive debut in a friendly game against neighbouring North Star BC in Derry.
There was a feast of basketball played in the Aura on Sunday with 8 games in total being played between all under 12 teams from Letterkenny and Ballyshannon.
Letterkenny Blaze U12 boys, team rockets, took on Ballyshannon on Sunday 5th February.
Their first match saw 13 U11 boys compete against Ballyshannon A team in a match that was evenly matched in score, with Blaze trailing by only 2 baskets at the end of the second quarter.
Blaze found it difficult to intercept the fast break of Ballyshannon in the third quarter and a full court press in the final quarter was something new that they had to try to overcome.
A hard working, man to man defence from all 13 boys helped Blaze to keep Ballyshannon’s A team scoring opportunities low. Blaze boys showed an improved team performance since last meeting Ballyshannon A team in November 2016. Ballyshannon A team were winners on a scoreline of 24-17.
Team Scores from Gabriel Gallagher (4), Cillian Murphy (2), John Kealy (4), Joseph Barrett (3), Adam McDaid (2), Oisin Scanlon (2)
In their second match against Ballyshannon B team, the Blaze boys showed very good, team man to man defence, Gabriel Gallagher displaying help defence while Oisin Scanlon, Cillian Murphy and John Kealy held strong under the boards rebounding well. Mark Patterson showed excellent interception of the ball, while forward passing in fast breaks were orquestrated by Adam McDaid, Joseph Barrett and John Kealy. Driving to the basket and rebounding skills were also in abundance during this game. Final score: 32-0 to Blaze.
Team Scores from Gabriel Gallagher (4), Brian McElhinney (2), Adam McDaid (8), John Kealy (8), Darcy Devenney (2), Mark Patterson (2), Oisin Scanlon (4), Cillian Murphy (2).
Letterkenny Blaze Team Jets also had two games against Ballyshannon’s A & B squads. The boys were well matched by Ballyshannon in the first game which resulted in a close finish.
The first quarter ended with Blaze 8 Ballyshannon 7, with Rowan Smith pocketing 3 baskets in succession. Liam Conaghan was on shooting form in the second quarter with Oisin McGrenra and Daniel Doherty demonstrating great determination and rebounding skills and Blaze managed to maintain the lead.
Unfortunately, the 3rd quarter proved more difficult and despite good steals by Luke Doherty and excellent rebounds by Ronan Barron Blaze were unable to add to the scores, with Ballyshannon scoring 8 points.
The boys were under pressure and needed to make up a 4 point difference in the last quarter.
Ballyshannon played a well practiced full court press which upped the pace of the game.
Despite the boys managing to put more scores on the boards and excellent steals from Mark Bonnar, Padraig Hughes and David Franklin there were too many misses. It was an exciting pressured finish for the boys with Ballyshannon winning by one basket. Final score Blaze 15 – Ballyshannon 17.
As we rotated the age groups the second game provided different opportunities. Blaze dominated in the first two quarters with strong scoring from Ziya Akkoc and Liam Conaghan.
Strong team work and improved passing kept Blaze well in the lead. Good rebounding was noted from Tom Keane Hagemayer and Peter Kernohan. Oran Conaghan played his first game for Blaze and assisted with good passing as did Ronan Burke.
Excellent offensive skills lead to scores by many boys including Tom Keane Hagemayer, Oisin Mc Grenra, Peter Kernohan, David Horgan, Rowan Smith and Padraig Hughes. Final score Blaze 30 – Ballyshannon 10.
Scores from weekend’s under 12 NW games:
Blaze U12 Girls Jets v Ballyshannon Shams 38-11 (Blaze won)
Blaze U12 Boys Jets v Ballyshannon 88ersA 15-17 (Ballyshannon won)
Blaze U12 Girls Dynamite v Ballyshannon Shams 5-23 (Ballyshannon won)
Blaze U12 Boys Rockets v Ballyshannon 88ersA 17-24 (Ballyshannon won)
Blaze U12 Girls Jets v Ballyshannon U11 37-25 (Blaze won)
Blaze U12 Boys Jets v Ballyshannon 88ersB 30-10 (Blaze won)
Blaze U12 Boys Rockets v Ballyshannon 88ers 32-0 (Blaze won)
Blaze U12 Girls Dynamite v Ballyshannon U11 0-52 (Ballyshannon won)
Scores from other weekend games:
Blaze U14 Girls V Queens 55-18 (Blaze won)
Blaze U14 Boys V Queens 29-27 (Blaze won)
Blaze U16 Girls V Sligo All Stars 48-55 (Blaze won)
