Newry Fliers U14 team travelled to Antrim to take part in the development league Finals Day hosted by Basketball Northern Ireland. This was the team's second final in 2 years amd they were definately hungry for gold.
Their opponents were Omagh Thunder, who had beaten Newry by 24 points 4 weeks previously so there was a mental mountain to climb going into the game. Luckily Newry had been able to prepare and Coach Peter Clarke had taken some lessons from the previous game. The team had trainied hard for the last month and were prepared to give Omagh a upset.
The game started very slowly. Both teams had to get to grips with the massive court in the Antrim Forum and had diffuculty spreading across the floor.
Omagh started with their 6'3" Owan Kirwan and he started to give trouble right from the tipoff. Newry's Conor Yendall immediately had to get to work keeping the big centre having his own way like he did during the last game.
He was very succesful and kept the pressure up, showing great strength and skill boxing out the big man. Jo McShance also had to step up try and stop the passes getting in, and the frustration built up on the big centre. This was just as Newry had planned so things were lucking good. On offence however, it was very difficult for Newry. The Omagh defence played a tough man defence and didn't leave much room for Newry to get open. Newry were able to break through the half court press that troubled them during the last game, but once setup around the basket it was difficult to find any space under the basket and the result was a large number of turnovers and some forced shots. Luckily the post players were able to pick up the rebounds and Conor and Jo both scored. The first quarter ended 9-4 to Omagh.
The second quarter was also slow for Newry, but this time the defence was also the match for omagh. Both teams struggled to get free as the defence for both sides worked so hard. Ross McQuillan was squaring up to a player almost a foot above him, but worked hard to keep them under pressure. A couple of times Matthew Fegan managed to lose his defender on the fast break and Aaron Miller was able to pick him out with a pass from half court for a great basket. With the defence working so hard it was difficult to get many shots up, but Mark thorthon was able to grab one of the rebounds and get Newry's other basket for the quarter. 2nd Quarter with Newry still trailing by 5 13-8
In the third Quarter Newry were able to field their strongest team and the game started to pick up on pace. With the Omagh centre back on Conor yendall was back to work, but the centre still was able to score over his head. Where newry really shone was on their rebounding and work rate under the basket. With 2 players boxing out the centre after every basket Newry cleaned up under the basket. It was obvious that Omagh depended on the big man and weren't used to him being taken out of the action. With the basket secured, and Newry claiming the rebounds they were able to break at the Omagh basket and with guards Aaron Miller and Kamill McCabe pushing up the floor, omagh were put on the back foot. Newry managed to real their lead in but Omagh secured a couple of baskets towards the end of the quarter and there was still 5 points in it, 23-18.
In the final Quarter Newry fought hard, but Omagh were finally able to strech out their lead, With the big centre getting pushed around under the basket by Newry, they moved to outside shots. Their new Lithuanian player V. Jankins found his range and was able to put down 2 three pointers in sucession. This pushed the lead out to 9 points but Newry still fought to bring it back into the final minutes. Both teams exchanged baskets as the game speeded up into the finish but in the end Newry were unable to close the gap and were defeated 33-24.
After the game the Fliers were presented with their medals and showed great sportsmanship applauding the omagh team as they received the winners trophey.
Newry Player Aaron Miller also presented with one of the League's All-Star awards, as voted for by the opposing team coaches.
After the game, Peter Clarke said "The players showed great heart today and never gave up. We knew we had a struggle on our hands from playing this team before but the boys worked hard right to the final whistle and showed their strength, determination and willingness to work hard. They can definitely walk away from todays game with their head held high. The fact that we took this team from a 24 point defeat in the last game to hold them down to 9 points shows how hungry this team was to win and how hard they fought for it. I think most of them were disappointed after the game, but I don't think they have anything to be dissapointed about. THey have come a long way in the 2 years they've been playing and they are showing great promise for the next few years."
Players & Scores
Aaron Miller 8 pts
conor Yendall 4 pts
Jo McShane 4 pts
Matthew Fegan 2 pts
Mark Thorton 3 pts
Kamill McCabe 2 pts
Eoin McStay 1 pt
Lloyd Clarke
Gareth McMillan
Shay McMillan
Rowan Lewis
Jo Hanna
Danial Hanratty
Cathal Lewis
Michael Clarke
