Byrne's buzzer beater clinches All-Ireland final for St Leo's
St. Leo's College basketballers have qualified for an All-Ireland final
Lily Mae Byrne’s two-point buzzer beater saw St. Leo’s College, Carlow clinch a thrilling 37-36 victory over Dominican College and, with it, a place in this year’s All-Ireland Under 16B Girls Schools Basketball League Final when the two sides met in the National Basketball Arena last week.
In what was an enthralling tug-of-war, St. Leo’s found themselves three points down when Isabelle McGirr landed a sublime effort from beyond the arc for Dominican with just over a minute to go.
Yet the Carlow outfit managed to pluck this game from the fire when Sinead Tomaszewska reduced their arrears to a solitary point six seconds from time before Byrne followed up with the decisive bucket just ahead of the buzzer.
McGirr proved a real handful for St. Leo’s throughout the second half of this contest, during which she served up 18 of the 22-point total she amassed on the day.
Laia Lopez Torrent and Tara Webb were among the heavy hitters for St. Leo’s, the two combining for 21 points, while Tomaszewska weighed in with a further seven.
The Carlow side made a blistering start to this game, two baskets from Torrent, together with a three-pointer from Webb helping them into an 8-0 lead.
Yet Dominican managed to halve that deficit before the close of the first quarter when McGirr struck from the floor and Rosa O’Connor drained two points from the free-throw line.
St. Leo’s drew first blood again in the second quarter by way of scores from Tomaszewska and Tara Dowling, but again their opponents reduced the gap to four by the half-time recess after O’Connor and Olivia McGirr got in for scores in the closing minute-and-a-half of that period.
Dominican remained hot on the heels of their rivals in the third and buckets from beyond the arc by O’Connor and Isabelle McGirr helped see them restore parity at 24 points apiece heading into the fourth.
The two teams remained neck and neck down the stretch, Isabelle McGirr again striking from downtown to edge Dominican three points ahead with 1:06 left on the clock.
A St. Leo’s timeout with 15 seconds to go afforded them the chance to strategise a late rescue, and they certainly executed that plan to perfection as Tomaszewska and Byrne drained crucial buckets at the death.
The victory sets St. Leo’s up for a title decider back in the Arena on February 27th against a Laurel Hill team, who made light work of the challenge of St Joseph’s Castlebar in their respective semi-final, winning out 45-19.
ST. LEO’S CARLOW: Lucie O’Reilly, Laia Lopez Torrent, Keira Kelly, Tara Webb, Sophie Poole, Sophia Slattery, Sinead Tomaszewska, Alejandra Perez, Tara Dolwing, Gillian Brennan, Aoife Shields, Lily Mae Byrne, Emmanuela Adekunle, Amy Wall, Shannon Dunne.
Top Scorers: Laia Lopez Torrent (11), Tara Webb (10), Sinead Tomaszewska (7).
DOMINICAN COLLEGE: Zoe Wong, Catherine McGarry, Jenna McCotter, Aisling McCrory, Erin McAllister, Isabella McGleenan, Aoife McAllister, Rosa O’Connor, Olivia McGirr, Khloe Gibney, Isabelle McGirr.
Top Scorers: Isabelle McGirr (22), Rosa O’Connor (8), Catherine McGarry (4).
