'In terms of talent, they're a phenomenal bunch, they’re generational' 

“In terms of talent, they're a phenomenal bunch, they’re generational” 

Head coach, Jack Scully hopeful his St Mary’s CBS team can reclaim All-Ireland crown after loss to Éanna Stephen Leonard HEAD coach, Jack Scully is hopeful his St Mary’s CBS team will be back next season, pushing strongly to reclaim the All-Ireland Under 19A Boys Schools Cup title they lost to Coláiste Éanna following an enthralling decider that was played out in front of a packed National Basketball Arena last Tuesday.

Defending the title they had won for the first time ever last season, St. Mary’s fought their way back from 18 points down in the second quarter to restore parity early in the third.

But just when they appeared to be in the ascendency, the Portlaoise side shipped nine points without reply and were unable to make any serious inroads into that deficit over the remainder of the game, losing out 68-59, despite Desmond Ogedegbe amassing a colossal 34 points by the final buzzer.

While admitting his were not at their best in last week’s decider, Scully remains confident they can learn from the experience of this setback and come back stronger in next season’s competition.

“They're a phenomenal team, they're a phenomenal bunch of young guys and they're still all very young for this age group,” he told the  Laois Nationalist.

“There's a skill in winning big games, but in terms of talent, they're a phenomenal bunch, they’re generational.

“Most of them are underage again next year. Jayden [Umeh], Desmond [Ogedegbe], Justice [Iheme], Prince [Iheme], they're all in school again next year. Hopefully we get back here next season and it will be Jayden and Desmond's third Under 19 Cup final.

“As a club, we have to be at this level of underage basketball, so we're learning as we go. They’re after coming the whole way up through the club and it's where we want to be as a club and a school.

“We can't expect to win them all, but just to be involved at this level of basketball in Ireland, it's something we never thought could happen.

“It's something I never thought could happen when I started playing in Portlaoise 25 years ago, so we have to appreciate it and be grateful for getting this far.

“Obviously it'll hurt that we lost, but things are really good in the underage setup that we have, and I couldn’t be prouder of lads,” he said.

St. Mary’s were playing catch-up from the off in last Tuesday’s final, shipping the opening 11 points of the game before Love Omoijade finally opened their account.

Éanna’s game MVP, Adam Charles was proving a handful from both sides of the arc, as were the likes of Augustine Farrell, Adam McCarthy and Harry Lynch.

Indeed, they played a huge part in propelling Éanna 33-15 up by the midway point in the second quarter, but St. Mary’s began to the turn the tide as Scully opted to employ a more intensive press.

Umeh and Ogedegbe each picked up two from the free-throw line before Justice Iheme carded a superb three-point play that reduced the gap to ten.

The Portlaoise side continued to force turnovers that resulted in a further six unanswered points from Prince Iheme, Ogedegbe and Umeh, leaving just four (38-34) between the sides at the break.

And two early third-quarter buckets by Ogedegbe levelled up the tie, with St. Mary’s looking poised to power on.

But Éanna somehow dug in, Farrell draining a sublime corner three to edge them back in front, before the Dublin side strung together a nine-point run that included buckets from Patrick Walsh and Lynch, together with an ‘and one’ from Charles.

That sucked the wind right out of St. Mary’s sails, and the Laois side struggled to garner any further momentum, as Éanna clogged the paint whenever they tried to break down the lane or mop up a rebound.

“Looking back, I probably played it too safe,” admitted Scully after the full time buzzer. “We press most games and I probably should have pressed from Minute One. I wanted to slow down their offence, but they killed us in half-court offence, they killed us in transition, so we had to go to the press then.

“With the calibre of the athletes we have, the press suits us really well, but the problem with a press, and the high level that we play it, is that you have to be really fit to run it the way we run it, and I felt we got tired. We kind of came in and out of it, and every time we came out of it, they hurt us.

“We do need to be a little bit tougher in big games. We seem to be losing a lot of the big games, club and school, in the same manner, so we’ve got to learn from it and move on.

“But to be back to an Under 19A Schools Cup final is great. Last year was our first year ever in it. We won it last year, and we were back in it this year.

“This will hurt for a few weeks. If it doesn't hurt, there’s something wrong. You shouldn’t be playing sport, you shouldn’t be coaching sport.

“But I have no complaints. We didn't bring our best game today and the better team won, but I'm very proud of the lads. They never gave up and it was great to be back here again” he said.

ST. MARY’S CBS: Jayden Umeh, Justice Iheme, Mark Delaney, Jim Hanamy, Luke Kavanagh, Prince Iheme, Jack Fennell, Ben Quigley, Ibrahim Ahmed, Daniel Booth, Love Omoijade, Scott Davis, Desmond Ogedegbe, Aaron McCormack, Echezona Onurah.

Top Scorers: Desmond Ogedegbe (34), Jayden Umeh (8), Justice Iheme (7).