So many Panthers in our house, so let's turn the sound up!
You know why? I think it's time for a PRES PANTHER round-up!
(PANTHER round-up!)
On Wednesday 2nd of March, we had our 4th fixture of the 1st and 2nd Year Southwest Basketball League. I believe it's time for some well-deserved credit to two fantastic bunches of students and their coaching team.
In December, we began our preparations with training Tuesdays after school. On the first week, we had great interest with 36 1st and 2nd Years putting in a great effort in play and listening during team talks. This lovely group has grown in numbers over weeks which we are grateful for. Coaching a large group can be hectic, but these students are a pleasure – always enthusiastic, hardworking and, our main objective, enjoying themselves.
The coaching team consists of Ms. Sheehy, Ms. Gavaghan, Ms. Dunlea and our 4 TY coaches Ella Quirke, Ciara Kerins, Orla O Connor and Abby Leahy. We have 5 games to qualify for the Southwest Semi-Finals and going into our first fixture versus Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne we had tough decisions to make.
Game 1: HOME vs Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne
1st Years:
First game. At home. Training done. New jerseys on. Pres Panther playlist going as the warmups were on. We were ready. The 1st years set a very high mark during their first game. With some incredible support from the 2nd year team and lots of spectators, Pres PE Hall was hopping. 15 super players, some playing their first game of basketball ever, gave an impressive display. Top scorers on the day were Anna Chute and Jamie Lee O Connor with 16 points each. Anna O Sullivan followed with 10 points along with other scorers Ellie O Rahilly, Emma Boyce and Evelyn Moriarty.
Final Score: Pres Panthers 50 – 22 PSCD
2nd Years
After watching the 1st Years, the 2nd Years continued our winning streak. 12 2nd Years with additions of our 3 top scorers from 1st Year, put on a great display of skillful basketball. The crowd went wild! Top scorers on the day were Bobcat’s Jill Quirke and St.Brendan’s Brid O Shea, followed by scores from Amy O Shea, Chloe O Sullivan, Gemma Sheehy, Tess O Neill, Jamie Lee O Connor and Anna Chute.
Final score: Pres Panthers 46 – 18.
Game 2: HOME vs Gaelcholaiste Chiarraí
1st Years
Our neighbours hopped the wall over to Pres PE Hall to take on our Pres Panthers.
On the 8th of February, Presentation Secondary School hosted a basketball blitz for their first and second years with the Gaelcholaiste and CII Abbeyfeale.
In the first game, it was our first years against the Gaelcholaiste. Anna Chute, Anna O’Sullivan, Jamie-Lee O’Connor, Abby Stephenson, Shauna Murphy and Namairg Ahmed were our scorers. And made sure we came out on top in the first game of the day.
The final score was 42 - 8 to Pres Panthers.
In our second game, the second years were up against the Gaelcholaiste. A tougher game than the 1st Years had with some serious players on the GCC side saw clubmates play one another. Jill Quirke, Brid O Shea, Anna O’Sullivan, Anna Chute, Jamie-Lee O Connor, Lily Silong were our scorers.
The final score was 40-28 to Pres.
Game 3: HOME vs CII Abbeyfeale
In the third match, our second years played their second game against CII Abbeyfeale. After being able to have a look at GCC vs CII, the Pres Panthers knew we had a job to do. CII had some quality scorers in fast breaks. Scores from Chloe O Sullivan, Amy O Shea, Anna Chute, Jill Quirke, Jamie-Lee O Connor, Brid O Shea and Tess O Neill saw us get 3 wins from 3.
The final score was 48-19 to Pres.
Finally, in our last game, 1st Year Pres Panthers faced CII Abbeyfeale. Our scorers were Anna Chute, Anna O’Sullivan, Jamie-Lee O Connor and Shauna Murphy. 3 from 3. Pres Panthers on the loose.
The final score was 31-16 to Pres.
Game 4: AWAY vs Colaiste Íde Dingle
We faced Colaiste Íde in our first game away from home. Exciting! We set off with a full bus and high spirits. Our students were amazed at the lovely setting the school had. As it was our fourth game, we were looking to top the group in order to get a home semi-final. The Pres Panthers had a job to do. With the absence of Anna Chute from both squads, it was time for some players to step up to get the win.
The 1st Year game finished with a 17 point win 38-21. Scorers included Abby Stephenson, Anna O Sullivan, Jamie Lee O Connor, Emma Boyce, Ellie O Rahilly, Ellie Clifford, Georgina Kennedy and Ríona McMorrow Moriarty.
The 2nd Year game finished with a win 45 -17 with all 14 of our players getting on the score sheet.
4 out of 4 games won. This set us up with a tough final game vs ISK, u16 All-Ireland League Champions, the next week.
Game 5: HOME vs Intermediate School Killorglin
The biggest game of the season so far was here. We were at home and the battle was on top of both the 1st and 2ndYear South Groups of the South West League. Ms. Sheehy, Ms. Gavaghan and Ms. Dunlea had done some homework to prepare for the encounter and the students had trained hard, learning how to attack and defend in different ways. There was a different feeling about this one, 5 ISK 2nd Years had won the All-Ireland with their cadettes, we knew we were in for a fight.
The 1st Year game from the outset was a contest. In the first quarter we outscored ISK 9 to 4. Q2 was a struggle with one basket to us and two for ISK, Jamie Lee O Connor working furiously as usual for Pres Tralee. This saw the halftime score being 11 to 8. In the third quarter both teams put forward a strong 5. At the end of the third 7 minutes, Pres Tralee 15 – 12 ISK. In the 4th quarter, an ankle injury came to Anna Chute. It was neck and neck. We were behind 1 point when Ellie Clifford scored to put us 1 ahead. With another basket from Abby Stephenson, Pres Tralee won out the contest by 1 point 21- 20. Scorers included Abby Stephenson, Ellie Clifford, Anna O Sullivan, Anna Chute, Jamie Lee O Connor.
Full time score Pres Tralee 21-20 ISK.
Next came the 2nd Year Pres Panther vs ISK. Five of the ISK 2nds had won the All- Ireland the previous week but unfortunately MVP Emily O Connor had sustained an ankle injury. We wish Emily all the best in her recovery. Ms. Dunlea’s expertise gave us more knowledge in attacking the first zonal defense we encountered this year. 1st quarter Pres Tralee came out on top with 14-2. 2nd quarter saw a much stronger ISK side appear with the introduction of Naoise Burke and Mary Kate Smith for ISK. The score at halftime came to Pres Tralee 16- 20 ISK. Trailing by 4, we were still in it. Ms. Sheehy told the team that we were going to go out there and score two 3 pointers and we were back in it, and that is what they did in the first 30 seconds (I should’ve said five 3 pointers). We outscored ISK 15 to 7 with some lovely basketball. Going into the 4th quarter it was 31- 28 to Pres Tralee. It was all to play. ISK outscored us in the last quarter 3-5 but with a free throw from Bríd O Shea, we secured the win by 1 point. Scorers on the day Bríd O Shea, Jamie Lee O Connor, Tess O Neill, Anna O Sullivan, Anna Chute and Jill Quirke.
Full time score 34-33.
HOME SEMI-FINALS HERE WE COME!
