Letterkenny Blaze U12, U14, U16 and U18 were all in action across the country last week with the 18 men away to Queens BC.
Div 1 U12 Boys Donegal 18 – Blaze 27
Blaze played the return away fixture to Donegal on Sat 10th having beaten them in the Aura a few weeks earlier. It was a game of 2 halves with the visitors dominating proceedings in the first period. Scores form the energetic Mikey McLoughlin, Connors McGrenra & Barron stretching the Blaze lead.
Home player N.Dominik scored 6 of his sides 8 points in the first half. Blaze scores were spread amongst Mcloughlin, Patrick Ward, Johnny Boyle, Michael Sweeney & Luke McGuinness to lead 21-8 at the interval.
Whatever happened at the halftime team talk worked for Donegal, as they staged a competitive comeback making a game of it. Flannery, McHugh, Farren & McNeely all chipping in vital scores many from rushed Blaze turnovers & uncharacteristic strewn passes.
The first half deficit was too much to recover however & Blaze ran out winners by 27 -18 but it sets up an interesting return battle.
Div 2 U12 Boys Donegal 27 – Blaze 16
Blaze travelled through the gap to their second encounter with Donegal having almost staged a dramatic comeback in their previous fixture.
No such drama this time out with Donegal giving the Blaze newcomers a lesson in controlled Basketball. Defensive naivety played its part as Donegal capitalized on basic Blaze errors and through McGinty, McCullagh, Lenehan, Donegal opened a 10 point half time gap. Blaze players Cillian Bonner, Sennan Gallagher & Darragh Cullen all contributed scores to keep hopes alive.
The second half was a more even affair but Donegal still keeping their nose in front through Healy & Doherty scores. Sennan Gallagher again was the driving force taking the game to the home team with Darragh Cullen also trying hard.
Donegal ran out deserving winners but the Blaze boys can’t be too discouraged considering 4 of the squad have just taken up the sport. Room for improvement but a long season ahead.
U14 Boys Div 2 V Mulroy BC
U14 Boys Div 2 played Mulroy Hoops in Ray Community Centre on Sat. This was their second game of the season and they demonstrated some great team-work. Blaze started well to take an 8-2 lead in the first quarter.
A fast game with some great skills from Mulroy kept the second quarter level. Blaze boys were energised by the lead and worked well in defence winning the 3rd quarter 10-4.
They rebounded well and got some lovely shots off the rebound as well as a 3 pointer. They continued to pass well and had some great steals ending the game 31-15.
U18 men away to Queens BC
Queens started strong in the 1st half to open a 12 point lead but Blaze responded to tie the score 20-20 at qtr end. Blaze played an excellent defensive game to win the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
Queens started strong in the 1st half to open a 12 point lead but Blaze responded to tie the score 20-20 at qtr end. Blaze played an excellent defensive game to win the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
At the start of the 4th Blaze held a 13 point lead but Queens came back fighting to take a one-point lead with less than a minute left. Agonisingly the final play of the game almost resulted in a basket for Blaze but Queens held on to the narrowest of leads at the final whistle.
Score Queens 68-67 Blaze. Hard defeat when everyone left everything on the court.
In other games over the weekend there were mixed fortunes, U16 girls proved too strong for the Donegal Town side and likewise, the U18 girls had a comprehensive win over Kilcar BC.
The U14 girls picked up a convincing win on the road to Belfast Star.
The U16 boys claimed their encounter with Queens BC on a scoreline of 42-24 but the U14 boys came away with two losses against Belfast Star and Queens respectively. With the season at full tilt now, every weekend will be packed with games.
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