Portlaoise scoop second national title in three days; Waterford Wildcats crowned U20 champions
Portlaoise Panthers rounded off a monumental weekend for their club as they claimed their second National Cup title in just three days this afternoon when they stormed home to a 75-71 point win over Trinity Meteors in the Hula Hoops Women’s Division One National Cup final.
The return of Claire Melia at Christmas added an extra element to Portlaoise and it was the inside combination of Melia and MVP Trudy Walker that helped Portlaoise dominate the inside as they outrebounded Meteors by an incredible 41 rebounds. Despite being dominated so dramatically on the boards, Trinity managed to stay in the game to the very end by forcing Portlaoise to turn over the ball consistently through the excellence of Lauren Grigsby in particular.
It wasn’t to be Meteors day though and Portlaoise were deserving winners. The Division One trophy will now head down the M7 where it will join the U18 trophy that Panthers won on Friday evening.
Speaking afterwards, head coach Peter O’Sullivan said:
“That was a brilliant performance, a brilliant day and a brilliant weekend! The U18s make up so much of our senior team and it’s great to have the experience of Deirdre Tomlinson, Claire Melia and Trudy Walker to add in.
"It’s a massive achievement for the club - two National Cups in one weekend - and it’s been building and we are just delighted to get the two wins.
We tried to keep calm as we have a lot of young players and this big occasion, it has been tough. We knew they were going to throw everything at us going in at half time, but they shots the lights out.
"It was cool calm and collected inside with both Trudy and Claire down the stretch.
"It’s been a brilliant club experience, from the crowds that have been here too."
Earlier in the day, Waterford Wildcats were crowned Hula Hoops U20 Women’s National Cup champions at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght this afternoon as they won out 85-76 over UU Tigers behind stunning displays from MVP Debbie Ogayemi, Abby Flynn and Kate Hickey.
Towering performances from the three underage international stars saw Ogayemi finish the game out with 17 points and an incredible 26 rebounds while Hickey was hot from behind the arc connecting on four out of nine three-point attempts on her way to a game high 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Flynn finished out with 19 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists.
Alex Mulligan was in fine form for the Tigers at the other end, with a 23-point game, while Erin Maguire and Eimile Rogers Duffy also impressed with 16 points apiece, but the experience and composure of Flynn and Ogayemi in particular ensured the Wildcats withstood the repeated runs by UU Tigers to hold out and win (full report attached).
