Report by Robbie Minihane (2nd Year)
On Friday the 17th of November, the 2nd year basketball team took on formidable opponents in Kinsale Community School, last year's beaten All Ireland B league finalists. After our own success in the All Ireland C Cup competition, many Skibbereen voices were eager for promotion and our performance in this match would be a trustworthy indicator of how we would cope when promoted.
The first half was a one - sided affair and many of our players wilted under the pressure of our steely determined opponents. Kinsale raced into an 11 to 2 lead in the first quarter with James O'Neill getting our only score. In truth, Kinsale weren't doing anything revolutionary here but they were winning the individual battles across the floor.
Our capacity to score was again ridiculed in the second quarter. The evidence before our eyes looked catastrophic and the score reflected Kinsale's dominance. Skibbereen's play was characterised by missed chances and only one beautifully taken basket was scored by Eividas Andreikius. Not surprisingly, we finished the half 17 to 4 points down.
The slaughter of the first half ignited our players into action in the second half. A dramatic change of tactics and a resurgence of energy in our defence transformed this game into a contest. Two majestic three pointers from Eividas were the highlight of the shots made in the third quarter along with tenacious defence from James, Thomas O'Mahony, Adam O'Donoghue and Jamie O'Driscoll.
The purple crew went into the fourth quarter 24 to 16 down and they seemed programmed to play at a higher volume. Two excellent three pointers from Stevie Redmond brought them right back into the game. But in the end, we paid for our lifeless opening and Kinsale ran out winners by a scoreline of 25 to 31.
Lessons will be learned from this exciting game and we can be proud of the boys coming back from 17 to 2 down to be beaten by a few baskets.
The story of the First Years first competitive basketball outing.
The SCS first years basketball squad took on Kinsale on Friday last. Many of the Skibbereen side were playing competitive basketball for the first time while others have club experience. The hall was buzzing when we arrived with over forty Kinsale first years, clad in all kinds of attire doing lay ups. One thing was certain, Kinsale took their basketball seriously.
The team got off to a slow start and allowed Kinsale to cut through the zone to get some easy baskets. Tom Kavanagh, Colm Harrington and Brian inspired a comeback and at the end of the first quarter, they were 11 to 7 points down.
The second five came out flying but struggled to find the hoop until Daniel Buckley set up Eoghan Cawley for two baskets in quick succession. Despite confining Kinsale to just one basket in this quarter, SCS trailed the home side by a single basket at the break, the score 13 to 11.
An eventful third quarter saw Colm get two beautiful steals but they amounted to nothing as the Skibbereen side squandered these opportunities with poor shot selection and misfired layups. We paid the price for our sloppy shooting and Kinsale stretched their lead to ten points in this quarter, the crucial score a three pointer from Kinsale's talented number 6 with one second left on the clock.
In the fourth quarter Tom showed some true grit and scored a couple of lay ups. Garry Fahy Daniel and Eoghan also found the hoop. In the end Kinsale ran out winners by a scoreline of 27 to 23.
It was a good performance by the team but on the evidence of this match, there is still a lot of work to do on the training ground.
