Kiveney praises Portlaoise pair Umeh and Ogedegbe as Ireland Under 17s take Four Nations silver
The Irish Under-17 basketball team, including Jayden Umeh and Desmond Ogedegbe, which won silver at the Four Nations in Cardiff last week
IRELAND Under 17 Men’s basketball team head coach, Ciaran Kiveney was very pleased with the overall performance his side served up in last weekend’s Four Nations in Cardiff, and the part Portlaoise Panthers pair, Jayden Umeh and Desmond Ogedegbe played in that impressive campaign.
Kiveney’s squad finished runners-up in the 2025 tournament, losing out to the eventual champions, England in their opening game of the competition before carding fine victories over host nation, Wales and finally Scotland.
“As a whole, I think the tournament went very well,” Kiveney told the “In most games we could have done some things better, but, as a team, we performed very well.”.
Down by five points (49-44) at the half-time break in their opening game of the campaign against England, Ireland saw that gap widened to 12 before they pulled it back to eight heading into the fourth and final period.
Still they struggled to reel in their opponents, who kept the scoreboard ticking over throughout the closing ten minutes to run out 86-68 winners.
Next up was the challenge of Wales against whom Ogedegbe picked up six points from the floor and another off the free-throw line, that coming in the opening quarter, during which Ireland established a 19-7 lead.
The visitors continued on to win the remaining three periods, for a 68-38 success in which Aidan Quinn emerged the game’s top scorer on 16 points, while Michael Cleary and Eoin Lewis weighed in with a further 11 apiece.
With that victory in the bag, it meant success over Scotland would ensure a runner-up finish in the tournament for Ireland.
Umeh helped them to a strong start in that game, landing two sublime efforts from beyond the arc that helped propel them into a 10-0 lead, only to see their opponents battle their way back on to level terms at 12 points apiece.
Ogedegbe also got in for a deuce with the aid of an assist from his Portlaoise club mate, as Ireland worked their way back into a 26-20 lead by the close of the first quarter.
They continued on to push that advantage out to 56-35 by the half-time break, Ogedegbe getting them going again in the second half when he struck from the paint as Kiveney’s side ended the third with a 21-point cushion (76-55).
But Scotland kept on battling and served up a nine-point run that was only halted by two free throws from Aaron Carberry before Ogedegbe got in for a put-back to help keep the Scots at bay as Ireland held on for a 92-81 victory.
“I think the first game against England, the score didn’t reflect the actual game,” remarked Kiveney. “We let it slip away from us in the last quarter.
“We’re very much a shooting team, and in the last quarter shots began to stop dropping, which, for any team, is going to make it harder to win and finish out the game.
“We put in good team performances against Wales and Scotland. In the first half alone [against Scotland] I think we were shooting 56 percent from three, which just shows all the work the lads have been putting into their shooting game.
“In the last quarter, Scotland came back and it turned into a close game, but luckily for us we were able to finish it out and take an 11-point win.
“Jayden and Desmond were an integral part of our squad. Jayden was heavily involved in the England and Scotland games and played a small part in the Welsh game. He’s very much a key player in the squad.
“Desmond is recovering from an ankle injury, but still played a massive part in the Scotland and Welsh games.
“Both players finished the game against Scotland when we needed to shore up the holes in our defence down the stretch and get baskets on offence, so it just shows you the importance both players had for the team,” he stressed.
Umeh and Ogedegbe’s display in Cardiff capped a tremendous run of Four Nations representation for Portlaoise Panthers this summer.
Indeed, Mia Delaney and Prince Iheme help their country to runners-up finishes in the Under 15 tournament in Manchester, before Evan Branagan played his part in Ireland’s third-place finish at the Under 14 Boys Four Nations in East Kilbride, Scotland.
