St Joseph's blaze a trail to Cup success
LADIES DIVISION 3/4 CUP FINAL
The St Josephs Blazers team that won the Ladies Division 3/4 Cup Final against St Brigids
Wednesday March 10 2010
St. Joseph Blazers 57 St. Bridgets 51: BOTH sides came out strong with good defence. St. Joseph's opened the scoring after one and half minutes and a good outside shot from St. Bridget's also put them on the scoreboard. St Bridget's were doing some great rebounding under their own boards but they just couldn't finish.
Good defensive play was being shown on both sides. Neither team were able to penetrate the strong defences for any inside plays and were forced to take outside shots. Six and a half minutes into the game and Pamela Healy was fouled for St. Josephs but she just couldn't finish from the free throw line. St Joseph's now were opening up the defence, Kitzy Fitzgerald getting in for 2 free throws and scoring both. St Joseph's just seemed to find it easier to break through and were also getting the vital baskets from outside. The quarter ended 10-4 in favour of St Joseph's.
St Josephs were out of the blocks fastest in the second quarter and got 3 quick scores without reply. St. Bridget's were trying hard with some great rebounding by Nora Buckley where she punished St Joseph's from the free throw line. St. Bridget's gained a few fast breaks but were unable to finish. Then Kitzy Fitzgerald for St Joseph's was fouled going through, scoring and again punishing from the line. Elaine Mitchell for St Bridget's got in through the middle for some vital scores to keep St Bridget's in the game. St Joseph's came back with some good plays and it didn't help that St Bridget's were on foul trouble with only 5 minutes gone in this quarter. However, St Bridget's played well and didn't foul for the rest of the quarter. It was basket for basket for the remainder of this quarter and the half time score was 29-18 in favour of St Joseph's.
St Bridget's started the third quarter very well and were putting a lot of pressure on St Joseph's. St Bridget's were scoring some good baskets from both inside and outside plays. With 4 minutes remaining on the clock, both sides were on foul trouble so the rest of this quarter was start/stop with players taking to the free throw line. Louise McCarthy from St Bridget's got in for a nice score from under the basket. Kitty Fitzgerald for St Joseph's was playing well at both ends of the court and was causing problems for the St Bridget's side. This quarter ended 46-31 in favour of St Joseph's.
St Bridget's again piled on the pressure to eat into St Joseph's lead of 40-48. Louise McCarthy getting in for 2 quick baskets for St Bridget's before St Joseph's replied. However, Bridget's had now found their range and were scoring great shots from inside and out. Lisa Falway scoring a lovely 3 pointer for St Bridget's left the scores 47-54 to St Joseph's with only 50 seconds left on the clock. It was all to play for, St Bridget's scoring another 2 baskets leaving the sides 51-54 with only 20 seconds left. St Joseph's held their defence and it was the Abbeyfeale ladies who held onto the lead for an impressive cup final win of 57-51 in an outstand-
ing display of ladies basketball.
