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Colaiste Iosagain and Colaiste Eanna make it a good Dublin day

BASKETBALL: It was a good day for Dublin Schools with Coláiste Iosagáin and Coláiste Éanna capturing the two main titles up …

Wed Feb 01 2006 - 00:00

BASKETBALL: It was a good day for Dublin Schools with Coláiste Iosagáin and Coláiste Éanna capturing the two main titles up for grabs at the National Arena yesterday.

Coláiste Éanna won the under-19A cup with a 77-54 win over St Gerald's of Castlebar to bridge a 15-year gap, with Ciarán White battling through the pain barrier to turn in an MVP display with 26 points.

Having inspired Shamrock Rovers Hoops to victory in the Junior Cup final over Killester on Saturday night, White picked up where he left off with another commanding display.

White was untouchable in the first quarter, his height under the boards seeing him register 10 points to hand Coláiste Éanna a 22-8 lead.

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Their captain, Scott Kinevane, another player to have broken through to the Rovers' Superleague side, also contributed handsomely, and his incessant running from the base of the court was a constant feature.

And with St Gerald's running into foul trouble early on, Coláiste Éanna, by the end of the first half, were well in front on a 50-21 scoreline. And holding their opponents to just eight points in the third, they were able to run the bench in the final quarter to win out comfortably by 21 points.

Coláiste Iosagáin, meanwhile, achieved the three-in-a-row when they beat Presentation Thurles 77-62 in the under-19A girls cup.

This feat was last achieved by Thurles in 2003, and a win yesterday would have handed the Tipperary school an unprecedented fourth title at this level

Coláiste Iosagáin shaded a tight first quarter before edging ahead courtesy of baskets from Eimear Mairtin, and Lauren Ní Dhubhslaine, who shot 15 points between them. And having already opened up quite a considerable lead, Coláiste Iosagáin then put together 10 unanswered points before half-time with MVP Sinéad Nic Gualraic scoring on the buzzer to hand her team a 40-20 lead at half-time.

Christine O'Gorman briefly turned things around for Thurles after the resumption, before Susan Ní Fhogartaigh claimed a succession of baskets for her team in the third quarter to effectively kill off the game.

There were two other games down for decision yesterday, with late baskets from Claire Rockall and Christina Brennan handing Calasanctius Oranmore the under-16A girl's title 43-35. The final contest saw Paul Dick register 27 points to guide St Malachy's, Belfast, to a 68-39 win over Ballincollig in the boys cup.

ALL-IRELAND SCHOOLS' CUP FINALS (at the National Arena, Tallaght): Boys - Under 19A: Coláiste Éanna 77 (50) (C White 26, S Kinevane 16, B Cullen 12), St Gerald's, Castlebar 54 (21) (D Ennis 14, A Casey 9, D Conway 9). Under-16A: St Malachy's, Belfast 68 (39) (P Dick 27, M Jackson 16, B Monahan 14), Coláiste Choilm Ballincollig 39(20) (C Ó Suilleabháin 14, E Ó Mhurchu 10). Girls - Under-19A: Coláiste Iosagáin 77 (40) (L Ní Dhubhslaine 22, S Ní Fhogartaigh 20, E Martin 12, S Ní Gualraic 10), Presentation Thurles 62 (20) (C O'Gorman 18, C Bryan 14, E O'Dwyer 12). Under-16A: Calasanctius College Oranmore 43(14) (C Rockall 18, C Brennan 12, L O'Farrell 6), St Vincent's Cork 36 (12) (C Twomey 19, R Lyall 8, D O'Leary 6).