U16A Boys - St. Malachy's 41:17 St. Mary's, Drogheda

U19A Boys - St. Malachy's 51:60 St. MacCartan's

The College U16 and U19 basketball teams were both in action this week, travelling to Kingscourt (Cavan) to play their All-Ireland League Finals on Wednesday 10th December.

According to Mr Molloy the U16s ‘required little additional motivation’ as they took on St Mary's, Drogheda, who put them out of the cup last year! The College dominated from the start; up ten by the half, the boys pushed on to win by 24. It was undoubtedly a solid team performance with every student playing an important part, including those who came off the bench to make valuable contributions. Key players included: Ethan Gibson, Jay Moran, Niall McGinnity and John Syme. Peter Henvey and Michael McWilliams did a great job in defence and Oising Donaghy, Daniel Hackett and Diarmuid Maguire each got on the score board.

The team have advanced to the semi-final stages of the All-Ireland League playoffs in February.

The U19 game was a much tighter affair. The opponents were St MacCartan's, Monaghan. Spectators witnessed a fantastic game of basketball that the College led for most of the game. However, they were unable to pull away and increase their lead. This allowed St MacCartan's to level the score with two minutes to go. With considerable support in the stands and momentum, they closed the game out. Ramunus Ramanauskas (21pts) was their most influential player. However, both teams will now progress to the All-Ireland League playoffs in January. Mr Fulton said ‘that in the meantime the St Malachy’s boys will get their fair share of defence practice'.

Pictured: The victorious U16 Basketball Team