Star u16s finished a truly memorable season with a fantastic performance at the All-Ireland Championships in Dublin at the weekend.
It was fitting that the Playoffs were held in Oblate Hall Inchicore, scene of so many memorable games down through the years of basketball in Ireland, and this current group of Belfast Star u-16s kept the flame burning bright with a series of performances which drew high praise from all corners of the country.
The records will state that the team finished in a very commendable 5th place, just missing the semi-finals by a point to Templeogue in their pool, then taking out a formidable Moycullen side in their play-off game. But this wouldn’t come close to telling the full story.
Game 1 - vs Neptune
Drawn in the classic ‘Group of Death’ – (and by the way, Basketball Ireland have to take a long look at themselves and how they ‘seed’ their pools, one of a string of jokes over the weekend’s logistics) – where there were FOUR number one seeds in a pool of 5, and ONE in the other, the team were faced with a stiff task of making it through to the final four.
Nevertheless, the team put the effort in during the run-up to the weekend, and early bells on Saturday Star departed Belfast for their first match of the pool against roasting hot favourites, Neptune, complete with their ‘5 Irish Internationals’ blah blah blah… What followed was one of the best performances from any junior Star team - ever.
It didn’t look that way at the start though, as Neptune roared out of the blocks in the first quarter with their infamous Transition game in full flight. To Star’s coachBrian McCreanor, it was reminiscent of the Neptune days of yore when the likes of Tom O’Sullivan would get out on the break and punish teams with a brand of slick, no-nonsense ball. Star took the body punches full on, and tried manfully to stick to their game-plan, but at the end of the first quarter trailed 13-4, 1 free-throw and a ‘trey’ from John Smye their only response on the scoreboard – but the ‘trey’ was a flicker of light that was a sign of things to come…
Star settled into the game and to the task in hand in the 2nd Quarter, and with the trademarks that have become associated with this particular team – grit, resilience and character – started taking the game right back to Neptune, playing them all over the court. ‘Le John’ Smye started to heat up, connecting on 3 for 4 from the perimeter, Peter Henvey was finally rewarded for his offensive aggression and got to the line, and Niall McGinnity, Michael McWilliams and John Moran more than held their own on the boards. Excellent defensive pressure started to ask questions of Neptune’s erstwhile ‘composure’, and Eoin Nagle led the counter-attack well, slipping in for 4 quick points at the end of the half. Star trailed by 11 at half-time, but the third quarter was when they hit back, and hard. The defensive pressure started to tell on Neptune and Star capitalized, led by ‘Le John’ & 'Kawhi' Henvey, the pair accounting for all 17 of Star’s points in the 3rd quarter, and going into the fourth, Star trailed by only 4.
Star got it to 2 points with 3 minutes to go, and Neptune were clearly rattled, Ethan Gibson and J Mo making fine contributions to their team-mates, and the upset was on. But Neptune’s experience and depth told in the end, and they pulled away in the last minute with a few fast-break lay-ups from Sean Jenkins to finally put Star to the sword, on a score-line of 44-36.
It was a hugely impressive performance from Star though, which was recognised by all at the tournament, and it achieved in the first game the main objective for this team – that they showed that they belonged at the top table of basketball in Ireland. Given Neptune dismantled everyone else (except for Sligo in the final) by an average of 25 points and going deep into their roster, they stuck to their top eight for this game, and though clearly the strongest team in the country, had to accept a bloody nose for their troubles in the opening game of the finals.
Game 2 - vs Limerick Celtics
Star moved on to the second game, and, almost inevitably after the highs of the first, laboured somewhat to a grind win versus Limerick Celtics. Leading comfortably by the 3rd quarter, Star took the foot off the pedal and let Limerick back in, and the game was tied going into the last 15 seconds. But a lovely play by John Smye, attacking the paint and slipping a beautiful pass to a rolling Niall McGinnity for the score as time ran out, ensured Star pocketed their first win, 39-37. It came at a bit of a cost though, as both guards Eoin Nagle and Ethan Gibson picked up leg injuries, going into the third game versus Templeogue.
Game 3 - vs Templeogue
This was a tough game in every sense, as Star struggled out of the gates on this one, and failed to deal with the 6-6, 20 stone behemoth M Gilleran inside, who went on to score half of the team’s points from within 3 feet of the rim. Again, questions need to be asked as the officials' interpretations of the rules, whereby the 3 second call was administered only once in the entire game. So, despite the best efforts of Niall McGinnity, J Mo and Michael McWilliams, it proved a bridge too far, and Star themselves took one on the chin, losing a winnable game 49-32, though the starters were pulled early in the fourth for what was going to be a major challenge vs old rivals Maree from Galway for the right to play for 5/6 spot.
Game 4 - vs Maree
This was the last game of the day, where you could see everyone including the table officials and referees had put in long hours, in fairness, but for this group it was a critically important game to show they were in the top handful of teams in the country. This time Star got off to a great start, and jumped immediately on Maree, and built a commanding lead in the first half. But again, and likely with fatigue setting in, some poor decision-making and specifically execution around the ring, and more woeful free-throw shooting, allowed their opponents back into the game (free-throw shooting has been the achilles heel for the team all season, despite a lot of coaching attention). But just when it was needed to give John Smye and Peter Henvey some much-needed support on the offensive end, back-to back ‘treys’ fromJohn Moran provided Star with much-needed daylight in the clutch 4th quarter, and Star again held on to get a fantastic win, setting themselves up to take out the other Galway team Moycullen the following day for 5th place.
Game 5 - vs Moycullen
The game was given added spice just before tip-in, when word filtered back to Dublin that Moycullen had stolen the u-14 AICC Final off Star by a point, yet again amidst fierce controversy on late-game calls – so it was that this became a factor in Star’s coach’s pre-match talk.
Moycullen hoped to capitalize on the rumoured physical struggles of Star’s guard tandem of Eoin Nagle & Ethan Gibson – but if this was the desired intention, it had the opposite effect as the pair saved their best performances for last, dove-tailing perfectly throughout the game to cooly handle any pressure Moycullen tried to exert over the full court, and showcasing their own defensive credentials with great effect at both ends of the floor.
But they were not alone – Niall McGinnity saved his best for last and completely dominated the paint, netting a double-double in truncated minutes (7/8 minute quarters to allow for all games, again this needs to be considered?), and again ably assisted by Michael McWilliams who has really announced himself with this breakout season, and of course John Moran, another who has blossomed into a player equally comfortable playing both inside and outside – what a nice luxury for a coach to have.
John Smye signed off with another 16 points and clinical demonstration of shooting, from all over the court and not just from beyond the arc, and must be considered the finest marksman in the country after a fine personal performance. And Peter Henvey proved – again – that there are very few players in the country who could stand along with him as one of the best two-way players at u-15 level, very simply a force.
Star ran out comfortable winners on a scoreline of 43-35, cementing their place at the top table of basketball in Ireland at this level, and simply showing that they belonged - ACHIEVING THE OBJECTIVE THEY HAD SET THEMSELVES BACK IN SEPTEMBER.
Star - a team that's all for one... and all for all
Of course the team extends beyond these guys mentioned, and very important and valuable contributions were made here and throughout the season by Daniel Hackett, Przemak Kwiecien, Kamil Kolos, Dermott Maguire & Darragh McGinn. A few of these will get another bite at this level next year and therefore this experience will stand them in great stead.
Watch out - there's a lot more to come form these talented guys
In summary, this team delivered more than what was expected in this memorable season, going undefeated in Ulster and back-to-back BNI champions, and representing their Province at the ‘A’ Championships ‘Ball’.
Whilst all the focus is (rightly) on the quality of basketball in Cork and, to a lesser extent, Dublin, people around Basketball Ireland now know there are two emerging teams coming out of Regions where there is less focus and less investment, namely our good friends in Sligo and ourselves, and hopefully this will be an incentive to carry the torch on and encourage our friends across all BNI clubs, so that worthy and proper competition continues to be provided beyond the banks of the rivers Lee and Liffey.
It was fitting that the Playoffs were held in Oblate Hall Inchicore, scene of so many memorable games down through the years of basketball in Ireland, and this current group of Belfast Star u-16s kept the flame burning bright with a series of performances which drew high praise from all corners of the country.
The records will state that the team finished in a very commendable 5th place, just missing the semi-finals by a point to Templeogue in their pool, then taking out a formidable Moycullen side in their play-off game. But this wouldn’t come close to telling the full story.
Game 1 - vs Neptune
Drawn in the classic ‘Group of Death’ – (and by the way, Basketball Ireland have to take a long look at themselves and how they ‘seed’ their pools, one of a string of jokes over the weekend’s logistics) – where there were FOUR number one seeds in a pool of 5, and ONE in the other, the team were faced with a stiff task of making it through to the final four.
Nevertheless, the team put the effort in during the run-up to the weekend, and early bells on Saturday Star departed Belfast for their first match of the pool against roasting hot favourites, Neptune, complete with their ‘5 Irish Internationals’ blah blah blah… What followed was one of the best performances from any junior Star team - ever.
It didn’t look that way at the start though, as Neptune roared out of the blocks in the first quarter with their infamous Transition game in full flight. To Star’s coachBrian McCreanor, it was reminiscent of the Neptune days of yore when the likes of Tom O’Sullivan would get out on the break and punish teams with a brand of slick, no-nonsense ball. Star took the body punches full on, and tried manfully to stick to their game-plan, but at the end of the first quarter trailed 13-4, 1 free-throw and a ‘trey’ from John Smye their only response on the scoreboard – but the ‘trey’ was a flicker of light that was a sign of things to come…
Star settled into the game and to the task in hand in the 2nd Quarter, and with the trademarks that have become associated with this particular team – grit, resilience and character – started taking the game right back to Neptune, playing them all over the court. ‘Le John’ Smye started to heat up, connecting on 3 for 4 from the perimeter, Peter Henvey was finally rewarded for his offensive aggression and got to the line, and Niall McGinnity, Michael McWilliams and John Moran more than held their own on the boards. Excellent defensive pressure started to ask questions of Neptune’s erstwhile ‘composure’, and Eoin Nagle led the counter-attack well, slipping in for 4 quick points at the end of the half. Star trailed by 11 at half-time, but the third quarter was when they hit back, and hard. The defensive pressure started to tell on Neptune and Star capitalized, led by ‘Le John’ & 'Kawhi' Henvey, the pair accounting for all 17 of Star’s points in the 3rd quarter, and going into the fourth, Star trailed by only 4.
Star got it to 2 points with 3 minutes to go, and Neptune were clearly rattled, Ethan Gibson and J Mo making fine contributions to their team-mates, and the upset was on. But Neptune’s experience and depth told in the end, and they pulled away in the last minute with a few fast-break lay-ups from Sean Jenkins to finally put Star to the sword, on a score-line of 44-36.
It was a hugely impressive performance from Star though, which was recognised by all at the tournament, and it achieved in the first game the main objective for this team – that they showed that they belonged at the top table of basketball in Ireland. Given Neptune dismantled everyone else (except for Sligo in the final) by an average of 25 points and going deep into their roster, they stuck to their top eight for this game, and though clearly the strongest team in the country, had to accept a bloody nose for their troubles in the opening game of the finals.
Game 2 - vs Limerick Celtics
Star moved on to the second game, and, almost inevitably after the highs of the first, laboured somewhat to a grind win versus Limerick Celtics. Leading comfortably by the 3rd quarter, Star took the foot off the pedal and let Limerick back in, and the game was tied going into the last 15 seconds. But a lovely play by John Smye, attacking the paint and slipping a beautiful pass to a rolling Niall McGinnity for the score as time ran out, ensured Star pocketed their first win, 39-37. It came at a bit of a cost though, as both guards Eoin Nagle and Ethan Gibson picked up leg injuries, going into the third game versus Templeogue.
Game 3 - vs Templeogue
This was a tough game in every sense, as Star struggled out of the gates on this one, and failed to deal with the 6-6, 20 stone behemoth M Gilleran inside, who went on to score half of the team’s points from within 3 feet of the rim. Again, questions need to be asked as the officials' interpretations of the rules, whereby the 3 second call was administered only once in the entire game. So, despite the best efforts of Niall McGinnity, J Mo and Michael McWilliams, it proved a bridge too far, and Star themselves took one on the chin, losing a winnable game 49-32, though the starters were pulled early in the fourth for what was going to be a major challenge vs old rivals Maree from Galway for the right to play for 5/6 spot.
Game 4 - vs Maree
This was the last game of the day, where you could see everyone including the table officials and referees had put in long hours, in fairness, but for this group it was a critically important game to show they were in the top handful of teams in the country. This time Star got off to a great start, and jumped immediately on Maree, and built a commanding lead in the first half. But again, and likely with fatigue setting in, some poor decision-making and specifically execution around the ring, and more woeful free-throw shooting, allowed their opponents back into the game (free-throw shooting has been the achilles heel for the team all season, despite a lot of coaching attention). But just when it was needed to give John Smye and Peter Henvey some much-needed support on the offensive end, back-to back ‘treys’ fromJohn Moran provided Star with much-needed daylight in the clutch 4th quarter, and Star again held on to get a fantastic win, setting themselves up to take out the other Galway team Moycullen the following day for 5th place.
Game 5 - vs Moycullen
The game was given added spice just before tip-in, when word filtered back to Dublin that Moycullen had stolen the u-14 AICC Final off Star by a point, yet again amidst fierce controversy on late-game calls – so it was that this became a factor in Star’s coach’s pre-match talk.
Moycullen hoped to capitalize on the rumoured physical struggles of Star’s guard tandem of Eoin Nagle & Ethan Gibson – but if this was the desired intention, it had the opposite effect as the pair saved their best performances for last, dove-tailing perfectly throughout the game to cooly handle any pressure Moycullen tried to exert over the full court, and showcasing their own defensive credentials with great effect at both ends of the floor.
But they were not alone – Niall McGinnity saved his best for last and completely dominated the paint, netting a double-double in truncated minutes (7/8 minute quarters to allow for all games, again this needs to be considered?), and again ably assisted by Michael McWilliams who has really announced himself with this breakout season, and of course John Moran, another who has blossomed into a player equally comfortable playing both inside and outside – what a nice luxury for a coach to have.
John Smye signed off with another 16 points and clinical demonstration of shooting, from all over the court and not just from beyond the arc, and must be considered the finest marksman in the country after a fine personal performance. And Peter Henvey proved – again – that there are very few players in the country who could stand along with him as one of the best two-way players at u-15 level, very simply a force.
Star ran out comfortable winners on a scoreline of 43-35, cementing their place at the top table of basketball in Ireland at this level, and simply showing that they belonged - ACHIEVING THE OBJECTIVE THEY HAD SET THEMSELVES BACK IN SEPTEMBER.
Star - a team that's all for one... and all for all
Of course the team extends beyond these guys mentioned, and very important and valuable contributions were made here and throughout the season by Daniel Hackett, Przemak Kwiecien, Kamil Kolos, Dermott Maguire & Darragh McGinn. A few of these will get another bite at this level next year and therefore this experience will stand them in great stead.
Watch out - there's a lot more to come form these talented guys
In summary, this team delivered more than what was expected in this memorable season, going undefeated in Ulster and back-to-back BNI champions, and representing their Province at the ‘A’ Championships ‘Ball’.
Whilst all the focus is (rightly) on the quality of basketball in Cork and, to a lesser extent, Dublin, people around Basketball Ireland now know there are two emerging teams coming out of Regions where there is less focus and less investment, namely our good friends in Sligo and ourselves, and hopefully this will be an incentive to carry the torch on and encourage our friends across all BNI clubs, so that worthy and proper competition continues to be provided beyond the banks of the rivers Lee and Liffey.
