LIMERICK Celtics won both the Women’s Division One and Men’s Under-20 National Cup titles at the National Basketball Arena, Dublin at the weekend.
In the women’s showpiece, Celtics overcame holders Abbey Seals Dublin (64-55) while the Under-20s defeated Titans, 77-65.
Both teams were coached by Tony Hehir.
In the women’s final, the outstanding Mikayla Brandon was awarded MVP (Most Valuable Player) after a fine all-round performance, posting 22 points and 20 rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Speaking afterwards she said: “I’m not from here so I didn’t realise how big of game this was, but my teammates showed me how big this was supposed to be. I did all I could for them and for this club – I gave it all I got.”
Limerick Celtics (main scores in brackets): Lucy Devoy (18), Dearbhail O’Connor, Ali Walsh, Aoife Morrissey, Sabhbh Edwards Murphy, Sorcha Cronin, Mikayla Brandon (22), Amy Buckley, Anna Parra Sanchez, Samantha Coleman (12).
In the Men’s final, Matthew Barry deservedly collected the MVP accoladed.
“It feels great to be back here again, we won the U18’s last year. We knew that Titans would be a tough game, but we realised if we stuck to our game plan, we went into the zone and we started hitting our shots and when they had to come out of their zone they couldn’t stop us really,” he said.
Limerick Celtics (lead scores in brackets): Cian Gleeson (18), James Corcoran, Stephen Redmond, Matthew Barry (23), Daniel O’Toole, Philip Kearney (13), Tom Kavanagh, Dennis Matthews (13), Oliver Barry, Con Kirby, Sean McNamara, Martin Frawley, Colm McCarthy.
Both wins represented firsts for Celtics in the National Cup.
In the President’s Cup final, Limerick Sport Eagles lost (91-78) to UCD Marian.
Sam Finlay top-scored (26) for Eagles, coached by Matt Hall.
