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Reports on Games [2014/2015]Season 2014/2015 First All Ireland Title for Blackwater Steelers Last weekend history was made when 12 young men from the Blackwater Steelers Basketball club claimed the first All Ireland title for the club. This is a tremendous achievement for this young U 14 boy’s team and a momentous step for the Blackwater Steelers club as a whole who are only in existence from 2008. This should be a stepping stone for more great achievements in the future. The boys coached by Tom O Connor and Enda Callery travelled to Sligo last weekend to compete in the B All Ireland Club Championships and after 4 games lifted the Div 2 All Ireland Title when they defeated near neighbours Muckno Lakers in an uneven final. The boys performed superbly over the weekend notching up some high scores on the way and playing some exciting basketball. Even the one defeat we had to Kerry side Gneeveguilla was by a solitary basket in a very exciting high scoring 44 to 42 match. A special word of thanks goes out to our Team Manager Grainne Moran who sorted out all of our needs, and to the parents who travelled with the team to ferry them around and generally help out, and to all who came over to support the team to this fine achievement; well done and thank you. The Journey The team travelled over to Sligo on the Friday evening taking in all the beautiful scenery the journey had to offer, content in the knowledge that all preparation was covered and confident that the weekend would be successful. They decamped in the Best Western Hotel on the Strand hill road which was only 5mins from our playing venue which was in the Ursuline College. All the team had to do now was prepare mentally for the next morning, get relaxed and get plenty of sleep. There was just one problem though, these boys are all under 14 and fun was high on their list of priorities, but the less said about that the better. 1st Game East Cavan Eagles 29pts Blackwater Steelers 51pts The competition is divided into 4 pools of 3 teams and these two neighbouring clubs were paired with Gneeveguilla from Kerry in Pool C. The Virginia side were our first opposition and we could not have got off to a better start as the Steelers raced into a commanding 13pts to 3 lead with Gavin McPhillips helping himself to 9 of those points. We restricted the Eagles to just 3pts in the 2nd scoring 8pts with Kai McCaffery getting the half of them. The real damage was done in the third with the Steelers stretching out the lead, good half court man to man kept Virginia at bay and excellent movement with fast passing give the Steelers numerous chances. Our shooting was pretty good too as we stretched the lead out to 42pts to 15. East Cavan Eagles won the last by 5 but a come back was never really on, the final score was 29pts to 51pts. 11 out of our 12 lads all scored, this was a good start: 2nd Game Blackwater Steelers 42pts Gneeveguilla 44pts After an hours rest the Steelers were back on court to face Gneeveguilla from Kerry and again we got off to a good start with a couple of scores from Gavin, the Kerry side came back strongly though and took a 4 pt lead, they threatened to get away but back came the Steelers with a big 3 and we were in the game again. The “first” finished 13- 12 to them. Despite some good work in the 2nd by Karl Gallagher, Gneeveguilla got the upper hand, they were a little quicker and stronger than the Steelers and led by 3 at half time, but the game was far from over. Lorcan O Rourke started the third brilliantly but the Steelers just could not get their noses in front, we would draw level and then concede again, the score was 33pts to 29pts. So we lost the 1st and the 3rd by 1pt, the 2nd by 2, so now it was time to turn it around and win the last, the Steelers did, but not by enough. Gneeveguilla had not fallen behind all game and had we got in front I feel sure we would have won it, as it was we were trailing by 2 with 40 seconds left, we had 2 possessions and both were blown up for dribbling violations when we should have been passing the ball up the court. This was a great game and the lads preformed really well, again their shooting was very good, 4 “3” pointers from a U 14 team is just excellent, 3 from Ben Ryan and 1 from Karl Gallagher. 3rd Game Semi final Limerick Celtics 41pts Blackwater Steelers 52pts With that narrow defeat to Gneeveguilla who also beat East Cavan Eagles we finished 2nd in our group and just missed out on a Div 1 semi, we were now due to play Limerick Celtics in the Division 2 semi. They were a tall strong outfit and looked like they would take a bit of beating. This game started at 7.15pm and the boys had been up for quite a while at this stage so tiredness could be a problem. The first quarter was tight, to a man the Steelers played very well, though Limerick’s strength was causing us problems but there was no sign of any tiredness as boys took a 1pt lead in the first. The 2nd quarter boys were very strong and with scores coming from every lad, they increased that lead to 6pts at half time, Steelers led by 25pts to 19pts. The Limerick Celtics pushed hard in the third and the Steelers had to stay very strong, the scores kept coming and they stayed ahead. Limerick ran a press in the last but the Steelers did not panic, they broke the press with cool heads and good passes that ended in scores. Conor McKenna was superb in this period as he moved the ball speedily down the court resulting in many scores, Limerick were not coming back now. The Steelers won by 41pts to 52pts and awaited results from the other venue to see who they would play in the final. 4th Game. The Final Muckno Lakers 15pts Blackwater Steelers 55pts After a full nights sleep the lads were ready for the Div 2 All Ireland Final, the fact that 2 Monaghan teams were competing in it says a huge amount about the great work being done by basketball coaches in the County. The venue was looking good, the cups and medals were gleaming and the North West Board were at the ready to introduce the final. The players were individually called out on the floor, lined up, shook hands and were ready to go, this in itself is a wonderful experience for these young lads. The Steelers started this one a little more slowly than any of the other games, they led by 6pts to 2 but were making mistakes, after a time out this was corrected and they stormed into a lead. The score was 12pts to 3pts. The Muckno Lakers were not lying down however and came out fighting in the 2nd; R. Hanratty caused mayhem in the Steelers defence and scored numerous baskets. Conor McKenna who had such a good semi had to go off injured early on and Dylan McKenna replaced him but eventually the Steelers got in to a rhythm. As per previous games they still found the hoop and won the quarter by 13 pts to 10pts. The Steelers did a lot of damage in the third preventing the Lakers from registering a point and scoring 12 themselves, this killed the game as a competition. There were 3 different 3 point scorers in this quarter. Despite running the bench for the fourth the scores kept dropping for the Steelers, there was no doubt the lads had their shooting boots with them and they ran out comfortable winners 55pts to 15pts. There were great celebrations afterwards when the cup and medals were presented and of course with it the first ALL IRELAND TITLE for the club. WELL DONE LADS, GREAT ACHIEVMENT. Team and scorers over all 4 games. Gavin McPhillips 58pts, Ben Ryan 30pts, Lorcan O Rourke 28pts, Karl Gallagher 26pts, Dylan McKenna 13pts, Conor McKenna 12pts, Ryan Murphy 8pts, Ogie O Dhufaigh 8pts, Ieuan Williams 6pts, Luke Coyle 5pts, Kai McCaffery 4pts and Michael Meehan 2pts. U16 A Girls All Ireland Club Championships The Blackwater Steelers U 16 girls took part in the very tough A section over in Galway, they were competing against some house hold names as far a girls basketball is concerned and did extremely well to finish in 8th place. They were in Pool A with Glanmire, DCU Mercy, Moycullen BC and Old Leighlin and had 4 game on the Saturday and the results are as follows DCU Mercy 35pts Blackwater Steelers 29pts Blackwater Steelers 30pts Old Leighlin 26pts Blackwater Steelers 29pts Glanmire 45pts Moycullen BC 39pts Blackwater Steelers 36pts They finished 4th in the pool, this put them in the Section 3 final against Fr. Mathews of Cork who finished 4th in Pool B to decide 7th and 8th place but unfortunately they lost. Fr.Mathews 55pts Blackwater Steelers 34pts. This was a very small squad that travelled to Galway with Coach Kellie McCabe but it will be a tremendous learning experience for the girls. WELL DONE GIRLS. U14 A Girls All Ireland Club Championships The under 14 girls were also in the much tougher A championships and were rubbing shoulders with the great and the good of girls basketball down in Cork. Like their U 16 counter parts they finished in 8th place but were very unlucky to not finish higher. They were in pool B with Waterford Wildcats, Meteors from Dublin, Brunell from Cork and Corrib fro Galway. Wildcats finished top winning all 4 games, but the next 3 teams Meteors, Brunell and BWS finished on 8pts each with Corrib last, but with score difference the Blackwater Steelers finished 4 in the group so went into the Section 3 final for 7 and 8th place, the results are listed Blackwater Steelers 29pts Wildcats 40pts Brunell 29pts Blackwater Steelers 40pts Blackwater Steelers 45pts Corrib 33pts Meteors 43pts Blackwater Steelers 43pts They now had to play Maree BC from Galway in the Section 3 final on Sunday but unfortunately could not pull out the win. Maree BC 41pts Blackwater Steelers 43pts Again this is an absolutely brilliant learning experience for these young Steeler girls and Coaches Delma Mulligan and Catriona O Martin, this should really help them in the year to come. WELL DONE GIRLS. Feb 10th 2015 Blackwater Steelers Basketball U12 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 37pts Andersonstown Tigers 21pts This was a very exciting game and may well have been the best performance we have seen from these girls so far. There was a great turnout of support which is always appreciated for these young players. After the disappointment of two defeats since we resumed after Xmas, it was very apparent that the U12 girls were determined to up the ante. Some great defensive play kept the Tigers under control from the off. Delighted to see the use of some newly acquired skills and some very efficient teamwork resulting in a few new names going up on the scoresheet! Team and Scores: Katie Deery 8pts, Shonagh Wykes 6pts, Leah Smith 5 pts, Sheenagh McKenna 4pts, Hannah Turley 4pts, Holly Mc Quaid 4pts, Áine Ní Dhufaigh 4pts, Rachel Callery 2 pts, Rigan Clinton, Ally Mc Carron and Hannah Maguire. U16 B Boys: Blackwater Steelers 55pts Andersonstown Steelers 47pts The Tigers from Belfast came in to this game having only lost once but after the Steeler boys pushed them so close in Andersonstown there was some optimism for thinking we could turn them over. There was a complete contrast in offensive styles at play in this game, they had a perimeter threat and no inside game and we had an inside game and very little shooting threat. Przemek and Gavin dominated the boards scoring 11pts between them and despite the close attentions of Shane the young Tiger Summersgill clawed 10pts from the quarter, a buzzer beating 3 leaving the sides level at 13 each. Baskets from Sean and Luke and a three pointer from Jason kept the home side in the game during a tense 2nd period where Tigers best players were back on the court as they only travelled with 7 players. The workrate from the Steelers was brilliant and we were only 3pts down at half-time. It was score for score in the 3rd: we had levelled the game and then went ahead. Przemek was having his best game of the season scoring another 7pts; he was ably assisted in the scoring ranks by Gavin, Conor and Aaron. The defence was excellent too until very late in the quarter we gifted the Tigers 7pts in 30 seconds to give them a 7pt lead. The coach was fuming! Summersgill got fouled out early in the 4th and the game swung the Steelers way, the home side tacked on 21pts to 6 from Tigers, and fully deserved their win. The boys can now look forward to a home game v Lisburn on Sunday next at 2.15 in St Macartans and then to a showdown with Omagh to determine 2nd place. Team and Scorers: Przemek Karkut 21pts, Gavin McPhillips 15pts, Conor McMahon 6pts, Shane McKenna 4pts, Jason Hamill 3pts, Luke Brennan 2pts, Sean Conway 2pts, Aaron Sherry 2pts, Ogie O Dhufaigh and Michael McDonnell. U14 Dev Girls: Blackwater Steelers 44pts PPI 18pts We have not had many convincing wins in this league but this was certainly one of them, the girls started off slowly enough but grew in to the game as it went on, and as the baskets accumulated so did the confidence and they fed each other. The Steelers went into a 6pts to nil leads thanks to some strong running by Mia McKenna and it could have been more had we converted more of our chances. The defence was pretty good, Emma and Dearbhla hounded PPI but they came back into it before the quarter ended and we conceded 2 baskets.
The 2nd was a little more open and the Steelers were able to exploit the space, Eadaoin scored 10pts in a row as we opened up a lead. PPI did not give in though and responded with 7pts of their own so the game certainly wasn’t over as half time approached. The score was 18pts to 11pts. The Steelers killed the game off in the third as they scored 18 unanswered points, everyone played well and everyone got good court time. There will be a tougher game this Sunday when Blaze comes to visit; this will be an important game to win! The final score was 44pts to 18pts. Team and Scorers: Eadaoin McCarron 14pts, Mia McKenna 10pts, Rachel Lavery 8pts, Dearbhla Ní Ghallchoir 5pts, Mya McKeown 2pts, Emma Corrigan 2pts, Amy Deery 3pts, Aideen McElvaney, Aoife McAlister, Grace Duffy, Mollie McCormack and Rossa Gilsenan. U14 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 28pts Belfast Star 43pts This game started poorly for the home side with Star out of the blocks like an Olympic sprinter, with Cooke dominating the boards and Fulton pulling the strings, Star were 10pts to nil up before the Steelers broke sweat. After a time out the home side improved with 5 from Ben and 2 from Ieuan but Star opened our defence up at will and led at the break by 20pts to 7pts. We should have done better in the 2nd although we competed well and made the game close but to have an impact on the whole game we needed to score more than the 6pts Karl got. The quarter ended 6pts to 7 in the visitors favour. Gavin gave Cooke his fill of it in the third; Luke, Lorcan, Ryan and Ogie were outstanding competitors throughout the 2nd half, but we did not convert enough of our chances. All the players used in the second half were super in defence and if we only could have brought this level of defensive intensity to the start of the game we would have had a chance. We won the third 10pts to 8pts but lost the last by 5pts to 8pts and the final score because of the first quarter meltdown was 28pts to 43pts. Against these boys you must compete on the floor at a very fundamental level to have a chance. Team and Scorers: Gavin McPhillips 8pts, Karl Gallagher 8pts, Ben Ryan 5pts, Ieuan Williams 3pts, Luke Coyle 2ts, Lorcan O Rourke 2pts, Ben Ryan, Ogie O Dhufaigh, Kai McCaffery, Dylan McKenna and Conor McKenna. U12 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 29pts Belfast Star 18pts It was busy weekend at home for Blackwater Steelers and the U12 boys were due to play two games –one on Saturday and the second on Sunday. The Saturday game, however, was forfeited by Tigers, late on Friday night. Sunday’s game promised to be a tight match against Belfast Star and as we took to the court the nerves were apparent. Even though the Monaghan men seemed to be in control, we still found it difficult to settle into any kind of rhythm. The Belfast men marked our lads well and we found it hard to break through to the basket. Steelers persevered though and gradually we managed to put a few points on the board. This low scoring first half left the Blackwater Steelers only 13 pts to 4 up at half time. After regrouping during the break, we took to the court again in the third, but again, the play still didn't seem to flow. We kept plugging away, taking scores where we could and continuing to edge ahead. By the final whistle, Blackwater Steelers led by 29 points to 18 – a comfortable win in the end, even though the game felt quite tight and tense throughout! Team and Scorers: Jamie Krisiulevicius, Peter Douglas – 12 pts, Daragh Sherry – 2 pts, Jake Hughes – 2 pts, Rio Corrigan – 7 pts, Aidan Mc Kenna, Luke Cawley, Tiernan O Rourke – 4 pts, Liam Conway, Paul Maguire, Finn Slater, Nathan Lavery – 2 pts. U16 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 34pts Belfast Star 47pts This was another painful defeat to Star, the game was close but because of a very poor 2nd quarter performance, was never really that close. The first quarter lads scrapped their way to a 10pts to 6pts lead with Josh, Michael and Robbie to the fore; more use of Raivadas and Ryan on the wings could have led to a bigger lead. The second quarter lads did not play well and let Star run through them, the only man to come out with any credit was Conor who was our only scorer with 5pts. The half time score was 15pts to 22pts. The Steelers played well in the third, kept Star quiet but failed to make any inroads in to the Star lead. Robbie had a great quarter but McGinnity kept Michael quiet inside and none of our perimeter shots dropped. The most annoying part of our game was the waste of some excellent fast break opportunities through lack of vision. There was 6pts between us going into the last, the Steelers pressed got a couple of scores back before they took a time out and settled the team down. With the Steelers pressing the game opened and Star racked up 19 to our 12 and ran out winners. The final score was 34pts to 47pts; one other interesting statistic was the foul count, Steelers 21 Star 12, that’s quite a differential!! Team and Scorers; Robbie McAlister 9pts, Conor McCrystal 9pts, Michael O Brien 8pts, Josh Hughes 6pts, Raivadas Lasas 2pts, Andrew O Connor, Dylan Maguire, Gavin McPhillips, Killian McAdam and Ryan Treanor. U18 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 39pts Belfast Star 2nds 56 pts Hopes were high going into this rematch having only lost by a 10pt margin in their last meeting. Putting aside all the losses so far this season, this was the one game that the Steelers felt they could redeem themselves and not have a zero point season. But as in previous matches, they struggled in their man to man defence and lacked good team work in offense. Half time buzzer had Star ahead 31pts to 19pts.
The Steelers still had the desire to bring something to the game as they produced some better offensive moves taking the 3rd quarter 16pts to 11pts. The final 8 minutes needed the Steelers to compose themselves but unfortunately they lost concentration and only managed a token 4pts to a massive 15pts by Star Team and Scorers: A.Vasiliauskas 14pts, S. Seskevicius 10pts, S. Gilbane 9pts, J.Deery 2pts, M. Rudanovas 2pts, M. O’Brien 2pts, E. Campbell and G. Esteve. Blackwater Steelers The Blackwater Steelers had a quieter weekend than normal and this was mainly due to the sports halls being taken over by chairs and desks as the pre-exams swung into action. Despite this we did host 2 games in Coláiste Oiriall which were both defeats and our promising young under 12 girls went down for a second week in a row in Dungannon, so over all it was a disappointing weekend for the club. Saturday Feb 7th Tyrone Towers 18pts Blackwater Steelers 16pts The Steeler girls had beaten this team comfortably at home a month earlier, so we had no fears. That proved to be our downfall, as a much more disciplined team, coupled with some changes in personnel faced us this time. The girls played well throughout and indeed were leading for most of the game, all be it a small lead. When Towers did get ahead, we panicked a bit, which lead to a few wasted opportunities, however a score from Aoife seemed to steady the ship somewhat. But we had got into foul trouble by that time and were punished as their No.13 didn't miss. Final score 18 pts to 16. Team and scorers A. Ni Dhufaigh 8pts, K. Deery 2pts, H. Turley 2pts, S. Wykes 2pts, A. McElroy 2pts, J. Murphy, H. Maguire, S. McKenna, L. Smith, C. Clinton, R. Callery and A. Ross.
Sunday Feb 8th We had 2 games in Coláiste Oiriall on Sunday and before the tip-off every one knew these would be 2 very difficult games and that’s exactly what they proved to be. In the first game our Girls U16 second team took on Elks and the Jordanstown team put them to the sword by over 20pts. In the second game our U 18 boys took on Star but they are in a different class completely, in hindsight this U 18 boys team should have been entered in the B league U16 Girls: BWS (2) 31pts Ulster Elks 54pts: Team and Scorers: Aisling Ni Ghallchoir 10pts, Alex Mulligan 9 pts, Caoimhe Ward 4pts, Lara O Mairtin 4pts, Gemma Johnston 2pts. Ailbhe Rooney 1pt, Mollie Molloy 1pts, Ciara Veale, Kate Mc Evoy, Hannah O Reilly.
U18 BOYS Blackwater Steelers 25pts Belfast Star (1) 75pts
Team and Scorers: S. Seskevicius 8pts, A. Vasiliavskas 7pts, J. Deery 3pts, A. Ecsriband 3pts, S. Gilbane 2pts,E. Campbell 2pts, J. Gallagher, G. Esteve, M. Rudanovas and D. Lapinskas. Steeler Fixtures this Weekend in St Macartans College
Feb 1st 2015 Disappointing Defeat for Boys U14 Boys (B): Newry Fliers (1) 22pts Blackwater Steelers 20pts The Steelers were unfortunate not to come away with the 3 pints in this return game against Newry. The Previous meeting in the SEM last November went in favour of the Steelers winning by 2pts on that occasion. The lads put in a good defensive 1st quarter restricting Newry to just 2pts but lack of conversion in offensive rebounds, and there were many, meant the Steelers only managed 3pts. The 2nd quarter five were a little untidy and Newry went ahead but they corrected their errors quickly to bring the half time score 9pts to 8pts to Newry. The 2nd half became a race against the clock as Newry held a 2pts lead throughout, and if one team scored the other then scored but neither team could break out into a commanding lead. The Steelers tried really hard to break this cycle but it wasn’t to be. Even in the final seconds the Steelers fought desperately for possession only for the buzzer to put an end to the game Team and Scorers: C. Liddle 10pts, A. Steward 4pts, J. McQuire 4pts, K. Hackett 2pts, C. McEvoy, C. Nally, C. Meehan, C. Mullighan, S. Ostrowski, D. Treanor, V. Khokha and B. Semeta. Nest game will be on Sunday 22nd February against Newry Fliers 2 in the Sem. Girls Win 2 from 3 U12 Girls: Letterkenny Blaze 32 Blackwater Steelers 13 U14 Girls Dev: Letterkenny Blaze 19 Blackwater Steelers 21 This game seemed to be going the same way as the U 12 game by the time the first quarter was over, the score was 10pts to 2pts in favour of the home side, and they looked in control. Yes we were a little under strength and we faced a very zealous referee but some of the Steeler passing was just poor and it resulted in easy Blaze baskets. For the 2nd quarter we resolved not to give any poor passes, we didn’t give as many, and we won the quarter by 9pts to 5pts. Mya McKeown being in top scoring form helped enormously and we entered the third quarter with renewed vigour. The girls were super in defence, they worked so hard to keep Blaze away from the basket and yes we did foul a little too much but the home side weren’t great from the free throw line so we did not get punished. We did however score 6pts to their one and went into the lead for the 4th by 17pts to 16pts. The Steelers were up for this, this group of girls are full of courage and determination, and they withstood any thing the home side could throw at them including some home team calls. They held their nerve and increased their lead by one, winning the game by 21pts to 19pts. Defensively this team is improving and there were some great individual defensive performance and that gives you the platform to win games. Team and Scorers: Mya McKeown 10pts, Grace Duffy 6pts, Dearbhla Ni Ghallchoir 3pts, Rachel Lavery 1pt, Mollie McCormack 1pt, Amy Deery, Aoife McAlister, Ciara Oliphant and Mia McKenna. U14 A Girls: Letterkenny Blaze 19 Blackwater Steelers 33 The U 14 (A) girls kept their unbeaten run in tact without any real difficulty during this match; they might not have hit the heights they attained when they extinguished Blaze by more than 50pts in St. Macartans but they still were comfortable throughout. Team and Scorers: Alex Mulligan 15pts, Mollie Molloy 9 pts, Caoimhe Ward 4pts, Lara O Mairtin 2pts, Aisling Ni Ghallchoir 2 pts, Riona Kilpatrick 1pts, Helen Mc Crystal, Hannah Sherlock, Mollie Maguire, Gemma Johnston , Hannah O Reilly. January 2015 Mixed Weekend for Steelers The basketball weekend got off to an early start on Friday evening with the U 16 2nd girls travelling down to the Ulster Elks. Saturday saw 2 home wins in the SEM for the 14 and 16 girls and 2 away defeats in Andersonstown for the 14 dev girls and the U 16 dev boys. Sunday brought wins for the 12 boys in Lisburn and the 14 boys against Star 2nds but unfortunately the 18s went down in the same venue. Friday
U16 Girls: Ulster Elks 66 Blackwater Steelers 2nds 49
This Friday evening game tipped off proceedings for the Blackwater Steelers and despite going down this younger Steelers team gave a good account of themselves against a strong Elks team.
Team and Scorers: Alex Mulligan 26 pts, Mollie Molloy 12pts, Lara O Mairtin 5pts, Caoimhe Ward 4pts, Grace Mc Dermot 2pts, Ailbhe Rooney Ciara Veale, Kate Mc Evoy, Gemma Johnston.
Saturday
U14 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 58 Queens 19 The 14 girls continued in top form and won easily against bottom of the table Queens. Team and Scorers: Hannah O Reilly 10pts , Katie O Reilly 8pts Lara O Mairtin 6pts Alex Mulligan 6pts, Helen Mc Crystal 6 pts, Hannah Sherlock 5pts, Mollie Maguire 5 pts, Caoimhe Ward 4pts, Riona Kilpatrick 4 pts , Gemma Johnston 4pts, Caoimhe O Hanlon , Chloe Nixon
U16 Girls Blackwater Steelers 72 V Queens 29 Queens made the journey from Belfast to Monaghan last Saturday; for what was anticipated to be quite a tough encounter turned out to be entirely the opposite. The Steeler girls seem to have made quite a lot of progress since their first game of the season which was against Queens, whereas the Queen girls have not. Therefore once the Steelers settled into the game after the first few minutes, they never looked like they were going to lose. The first Quarter starters were: Natasha Hughes, Bethany Fitzpatrick, Kate Aughey, Amy Mulligan and Laura Nally. The Girls started off a little loose on defence but once they settled into the game they controlled the quarter. While Amy Mulligan, Natasha Hughes and Kate Aughey got the scores; Bethany Fitzpatrick and Laura Nally played well setting screens for scores as well as getting assists. The first quarter ended 14-8 to the Steelers. The second Quarter starters consisted of: Alison Mc Bride, Sinead Mc Guirk, Kelly Mc Cormill, Morgan Mc Kenna and Rachel Gallagher with Meghan Mc Kenna coming on in this quarter also. The Steeler girls had the edge from the get go. Rachel and Morgan worked well together inside combining for the first seven points.In addition the Steeler guards put a lot of defensive pressure on the Queen’s girls which caused turnovers that resulted in Steeler scores. At the half the score was 30-13. The Steelers’ coach encouraged the girls to go all out offensively in the third quarter and that’s exactly what they did; scoring 26pts in the third, their highest scoring quarter of the season. Kelly Mc Cormill in particular had a great quarter, scoring 14points in addition to being a nuisance to Queens on defence. Amy Mulligan and Morgan Mc Kenna hit wonderful jump shots while Natasha Hughes along with Kelly cut hard to the basket. Players were rotated quite regularly towards the end of the third and fourth quarter which saw Sinead Mc Guirk, Meghan Mc Kenna and Alison Mc Bride adding to Steelers grand total of 72points.Overall the Steelers dominated the game resulting in a great team victory for the home side. Final score was 72-29. Team and Scorers: Kelly Mc Cormill 18pts, Amy Mulligan 14pts, Natasha Hughes 10pts, Morgan Mc Kenna 8pts, Kate Aughey 7pts, Rachel Gallagher 6pts, Alison Mc Bride 5pts, Sinead Mc Guirk 2pts, Meghan Mc Kenna 2pts, Laura Nally, Bethany Fitzpatrick.
U 14 Dev Girls Andersonstown Tigers 47 Blackwater Steelers 23 This turned out to be a bruising encounter for the Steelers in more ways than one, the game had only just started when Dearbhla Ni Ghallchoir took a bad fall and had to go off, not long after that, her replacement Amy Deery suffered the same fate and had to sit down, without our point guards we were struggling. Despite Grace, Mya, Mollie and Rachel’s best efforts in that first quarter we were 10pts to 4pts down. Amy bravely started the 2nd with Aoife, Grace, Eadaoin and Ciara Oliphant but we could keep the Tigers at bay, their number 6 was very strong and dominated the quarter scoring 7pts. They led by 23pts to 8pts at half time. Dearbhla bravely returned to play in the third and the Steelers battled hard, Rachel and Mya both played brilliantly and we won this quarter by 12pts to 10. The girls showed loads of fight and determination and that was great to see. Unfortunately the last ran away from us and Tigers stretched their lead, the final score was 47 to 23. Team and Scorers: Rachel Lavery 8pts, Mya McKeown 6pts, Eadaoin McCarron 4pts, Grace Duffy 4pts, Amy Deery 1pt, Aoife McAlister, Dearbhla Ní Ghallchoir, Mollie McCormack and Ciara Oliphant. U 16 B Boys Andersonstown Tigers 37 Blackwater Steelers 26 The Steelers went into this game on top of the table having played 2 games more than our nearest rivals Tigers, so this game would go along way to deciding the breakdown of the top four places. The game lived up to its billing, it was close and exciting. They won the first by 8pts to 6pts but the Steelers were very wasteful around the basket and after such a great defensive display should have been ahead. Shane McKenna displayed superior discipline in his man to man job on their star player. The Steeler went ahead in the 2nd, but their play deserved more, many really good chances were missed whereas the defence was very strong. Jason Hamill was the danger man hitting 6 in this period. In a low scoring third, the home side were restricted by some excellent defence but the Steelers conversion rate let them down, this led to frustration and then of course the referee has to play too big a part in the game and this was certainly not to the Steelers advantage. The scores were level at 20pts each going into the last. This could have gone either way but the Steelers continued to be wasteful around the basket whereas the Tigers number 6 steeped up to the plate. Team fouls played their part much earlier than would be ideal and they took full advantage scoring 9 from the free shot line. A 17pts to 6 scoreline in this quarter wasn’t a true reflection of the play but that’s how it ended and Tigers won by 37 to 26. Team and Scorers: G.McPhillips 8pts, J. Hamill 6pts, O. Murphy 4pts, O.O Dhufaigh 2pts, S.McKenna 2pts, P.Karkut 2pts, L.Brennan 2pts, M.McDonnell, A.Sherry, S.Conway and M.McDonnell.
Sunday U 12 Boys Lisburn Phoenix 4 BWS 42 This was an early start for the U12 boys on Sunday morning and the first outing of the New Year, and the boys were chomping at the bit to play some competitive ball, after the Christmas break. The Monaghan lads found it difficult to settle into a good rhythm to begin with, but after a few scrappy minutes, they started to put scores on the board, with no reply from Lisburn. By half time Steelers led by 26 points to no score and decided to take the foot off the pedal somewhat. We still managed to clock up the points with ease during the second half, while Lisburn only replied with two scores. The final buzzer sounded and the game ended, 42 points to 4. Well done lads! Team and scorers: Luke Cawley - 4 pts, Peter Douglass - 6 pts, Daragh Sherry - 2 pts, Tiernan O Rourke - 10 pts, Adrian Mc Donnell, Evan Ryan, Mark Donohue, Finn Slater - 4 pts, Paul Maguire - 2 pts, Liam Conway - 2 pts, Jamie Krisiulevicius - 12 pts. U 14 Boys Belfast Star (2) 15pts Blackwater Steelers 53pts Despite some absentees the 14 boys won comprehensively against this Star 2nd team. Two identical scoring quarters (4pts to 10pts) each set them on their way and then a 13pt scoring streak by Gavin McPhillips put the game beyond any doubt. Conor McKenna hit 8pts in the last to stretch the lead further. However this was a weak Star B team and if we are not in top form this scoreline could be reversed when we play their A team on Feb 15th. Team and Scorers: G.McPhillips 19pts, C.McKenna 8pts, L.O Rourke 8pts, K.McCaffrey 6pts, O.O Dhufaigh 6pts, L.Coyle 4pts, I. Williams 2pts, D. McKenna, R. Murphy and M. Meehan. U18 BOYS Belfast Star (A) 71 Blackwater Steelers 22 This was always going to be a very tough fixture for the Steelers with Star having won every game so far. Belfast Star play at a very different speed and skill level from this Steelers team and the scoreline reflects this. Despite plenty of effort and energy from the Steelers the home side still racked up 41pts by half-time and only managed 13 in reply. They hold top position in the league and watching them play it was easy to see why. The Steelers man to man defence throughout the game greatly reduced any shooting chances from Star but the Steelers found it very had to combat their movement off the ball, their inside play and fast breaks. They added another 30pts to the Steelers 9pts in the 2nd half and won the game at their ease. To their credit the Steelers never gave up and played the game in good spirit. Team and Scorers: M. Zalikas 8pts, J. Gallagher 5pts, S. Gilbane 5pts, A. Vasiliauskas 4pts, T. Lapinskas, A. Janavicius, A. Escriban, D. Lapinskas, J. Deery and G. Esteve. 10 Games over the Weekend St Macartans College was a very busy spot over last weekend with the Blackwater Steelers hosting 10 games in total. Despite snow and slippery roads all the visitors made it to the venue, 3 teams from Queens and 2 from Letterkenny on Saturday and 4 from Dungannon and 1 from Omagh on Sunday. There was varying levels of basketball on show but the Steelers claimed 7 wins from the 10 games and in anybodies book that’s a fantastic weekend’s work.
U14 B Boys Blackwater Steelers 24pts Queens (3) 16pts Having achieved a 49pts to 5pts victory last October in Belfast, anyone would have thought that this game would have been a breeze for the Steelers, but as it turned out it was hard fought even to the point of looking like we might lose the game. Queens 3 have improved their man to man defence immensely causing the Steelers no end of trouble trying to move the ball in offense and denying the pass. Some more work needs to be done on screening and releasing the ball quicker. The 1st half had Queens ahead 9pts to 7pts, a little worrying for the coach.
But a good pep talk during the break geared the boys up for the 2nd half. Some good defensive rebounds and fast breaks brought the boys back into the game and they eventually took the lead. This was a far better performance from the Steelers taking the 2nd half a healthy 17pts to 7pts. Team and Scorers: J. Maguire 10pts, A. Steward 5pts, C. Liddle 4pts, S. Ostrowski 3pts, C. Maguire 2pts, C. Meehan, C. Mulligan, S.Treanor, V. Khokha, D. Treanor and B. Semeta. U16 B Boys Blackwater Steelers 33 Queens 19 The boys never quite got into the rhythm they were in when they beat Lisburn last week but still this was a comfortable win for the home side. They led 7 to 3 after the first quarter and 17 to 9 by half time but really could have been much further ahead but for some wasteful finishing. However our defence was good and they only scored if they broke at speed. We put a little more daylight between us in terms of scores in the third as we extended the lead by another 7pts, but Queens never looked like making a comeback and the Steelers seen the game out. We have to mention Alister Stewart from the U 14 B team who stepped in for a missing player at short notice and did extremely well scoring 4pts. Team and Scorers: Michael McDonnell 7pts, Gavin McPhillips 6pts, Oisin Murphy 6pts, Shane McKenna 4pts, Alister Stewart 4pts, Conor McMahon 2pts, Lorcan O Rourke 2pts, Sean Conway 2pts, Jason Hamill and Luke Brennan. U 18 Boys Blackwater Steelers 50 Queens 66 The Steelers were going into this return match very much the underdogs having lost 84pts to 31pts in their very first game last October. Even with a much depleted bench they gave Queens some concern and produced some of the most exciting and best basketball of the season. This game was contested to the final buzzer as the Steelers threw everything they had at Queens, determination and conviction being their main strengths. Four of the Steelers lads had to play the whole game as substitutions were not available while Queens had the luxury of a full bench, which shows how much these boys lifted their game. The 1st quarter had Queens ahead 16pts to 8pts, but excellent defence by the Steelers reduced Queens scoring and had the Steelers take the 2nd quarter 15pts to 11pts. Going into the 2nd half 27pts to 23pts down was more than the Steelers hoped for as the game was very open, but sadly the 3rd quarter proved too much, as Queens added another 25pts to 12pts. The Steelers still battled on in the 4th quarter but without resting players it was a little too much to ask but they still took the final quarter 15pts to 14pts. This was a good performance from all players and they pushed Queens all the way, hopefully they can bring this level to the final few games. There is no doubt if the bench had a few more of their team mates the result might have been different.
Team and Scorers: G. Simulis 25pts, A. Vasiliauskas 15pts, D. Lapinskas 6pts, A. Escriban 4pts, R. Zhu, A. Fields and M. Rudanovas. U 14 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 71 Letterkenny Blaze 14 Team and Scorers: Alex Mulligan 21pts, Lara O Mairtin 12pts, Hannah O Reilly 10pts,Mollie Molloy 10pts Caoimhe Ward 7pts Aisling Gallagher 5pts, Hannah Sherlock 4pts, Gemma Johnston 4pts, Mollie Maguire 2pts, Ella Garland, Caoimhe O Hanlon. U14 Dev Girls: Blackwater Steelers 17 Letterkenny Blaze 24 After 3 wins on the trot this U 14 girl’s development team were taken back down to earth when Letterkenny Blaze provided the opposition for the last game on Saturday. The girls gave everything they had in pursuit of another win but Blaze had a couple of bigger players who were hard to get past. Blaze got the better start leading 7 to 3 at quarter’s end and they won the 2nd by 10pts to 6pts. The 3rd belonged to the Monaghan girls but we could not get enough scores in the last to steal the game. The final score was 17pts to 24pts Team and Scorers; Grace Duffy 7pts, Eadaoin McCarron 6pts, Dearbhla Ní Ghallchoir 2pts, Mya McKeown 2pts, Aoife McAlister, Aideen McElvaney, Emma Corrigan, Mia McKenna, Mollie McCormack, Rachel Lavery and Rossa Gilsenan. U16 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 55 v Tyrone Towers 14 Last Sundays game was a one sided encounter. Towers travelled to Monaghanshort-handed, which ultimately showed in the final result. The Steelers on the other hand had eleven players to work with; with all eleven players playing equal minutes and playing their part in the win. Even though the Steelers didn’t play to their full potential they ran out easy and much deserved winners. Much tougher opposition face the Steelers next Saturday, when they play Queens at home. Out of all the remaining league games, Queens will be the toughest. If they can overcome Queens next Saturday, the Steelers will more than likely claim the league title. Team and Scorers: Amy Mulligan 12pts, Kelly McCormill 12pts, Morgan Mc Kenna 8pts, Sinead Mc Guirk 8pts, Lucy Mc Donald 4pts, Natasha Hughes 4pts, Laura Nally 3pts, Alison Mc Bride 2pts, Aoibheann McQuaid 2pts, Kate Aughey and Bethany Fitzpatrick. U 14 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 62 Tyrone Towers 30 Team and Scorers: Katie O Reilly 10 pts, Caoimhe Ward 10pts, Mollie Maguire 8pts, Helen Mc Crystal 8pts, Hannah O Reilly 6pts, Aisling Gallagher 6pts, Caoimhe O Hanlon 4pts, Lara O Mairtin 4pts, Mollie Molloy 4pts, Chloe Nixon 2pts, Hannah Sherlock, Ella Garland. U 12 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 26 Tyrone Towers 12 This was another good win for the Blackwater Steelers U 12 girl’s team, this time against Tyrone Towers from Dungannon, the first meeting of these two teams. This is their 6th win and to say that this team has improved from the start of the season would be an understatement. It is hard to believe that none of these girls had played a competitive game of basketball until October last, and the strides they have made in all aspects of their game, is incredible.
Throughout the game, all twelve girls played with a determination and a confidence belying their young age, and won each quarter comfortably. They chased loose balls, competed for, and won rebound after rebound, and scored some terrific baskets. Again, the defence was sound giving the Towers girls slim pickings. This was a great display of basketball from these youngsters. Very well done girls! Final Score 26pts to 12pts
Team and scorers: Áine Ni Dhufaigh 9pts, Holly McQuaid 6pts, Katie Deery 4pts, Shonagh Wykes 4pts, Alex McKenna 2pts, Hannah Turley 1pt, Ally McCarron, Sheenagh McKenna, Aoife McElroy, Leah Smith, Ciara Clinton and Rachel Callery.
U 16 Girls 2nds: Blackwater Steelers 43 Tyrone Towers 32pts Team and Scorers: Lara O Mairtin 13pts Caoimhe Ward 12pts Mollie Molloy 8pts, Aisling Gallagher 6pts, Helen Mc Crystal 2pts Ailbhe Rooney 2pts , Gemma Johnston, , Ciara Veale, Grace Mc Dermot, Kate Mc Evoy.
U 14 B Boys: Blackwater Steelers 23 Omagh 35 The Steelers were quite hopeful going into this game only losing by 15pts to 23pts last October in their first game of the season in Omagh, but the presence of their No.5 M. Hayes proved too much again, he is a big strong lad who also plays at U16 and really affects the game. Poor play with constant bad passing, too much dribbling resulting in numerous turn-over’s contributed greatly to a half time score where Omagh led by a massive 25pts to 8pts, when we were in offence we lacked ideas to break them down.
Going into the 2nd half, Omagh rested their No.5, which the Steelers took full advantage of taking the 3rd quarter 12pts to 2pts. This was a big lift for the boys but hopes were dashed as the big lad was reintroduced in the 4the quarter, which Omagh won 8pts to 3pts.
Team and scorers: J. Maguire 12pts, C. Mulligan 4pts, S. Treanor 3pts, C. Liddle 2pts, L. McKenna, A. Steward, K. Hackett, and C. Maguire. January 2015 The Blackwater Steelers had 8 teams on the road over the past weekend; Lisburn provided the opposition for 7 of them with the Peace Players from North Belfast making up the last one. The Girls were most successful winning all 4 games with the boys picking up 2 wins from their 4. Saturday: U 14 dev Girls PPI 12pts Blackwater Steelers 28pts The U 14 development girls picked up their 4th win of the season when they beat the Peace Players in North Belfast on Saturday. After a slow start where they failed to score in the first quarter the girls picked their game up in the second and put 10pts on the board without reply from the home side, this left the Steelers leading by 10pts to 6pts at halftime. Once they gained the advantaged they pushed on and led by 16pts to 6 at the end of the third. PPI tired in the last and the Monaghan girls showed no mercy as they built on the score to run out winners by 28pts to 12pts. This was a great win by the Steeler girls with some brilliant individual defensive performances, the girls are learning at a rapid pace and we now look forward to the visit of Letterkenny next Saturday Jan 17th. Team & Scorers: Eadaoin McCarron 8pts, Dearbhla Ní Ghallchoir 8pts, Grace Duffy 4pts, Mya McKeown 4pts, Amy Deery 2pts, Aoife McAlister 2pts, Aideen McElvaney, Emma Corrigan, Mollie McCormack, Mia McKenna, Rachel Lavery and Rossa Gilsenan.
U 16 Boys: Lisburn Phoenix 47pts Blackwater Steelers 45pts With a couple of injuries and a couple of pull-outs the Steelers were very much under strength going in to this game, knowing that we would loose the points without 10 players present annoyed the players that did play and left the game a dead rubber. After an understandable slow start it looked like Lisburn were going to steam roll the Steelers, they went 8 nil up, after we pulled one back they hit a 3 as our boys struggled to defend with any passion. The Steelers rallied after a time out to make the score look respectable, Michael hit a basket and Conor shot a 2 and a 3, so after being outplayed for most of the quarter they still were only 6 behind. The 2nd was a complete turnaround with the Steelers taking control, Ryan was incisive bagging 6pts, Conor controlled the game picking up 6 and maybe we should had a few more than 4 each from the inside players Michael and Killian. Dylan added 2 and there were grounds for optimism. The half time score was 31pts to 25pts. Lisburn were the better side in the third, our defence got lazy, stopped closing down and we paid the price, they shot well and rattled in 16pts to our 8, they closed down our threats and we struggled for scores and but for a few good inside moves by Michael who hit 3 baskets we were in trouble. However going into the last we were only 2 down. In the first 2 minutes the Steelers had 3 gilt edge chances to take the lead and we missed all of them, we pressed hard, forced the errors but could not score when the chance presented itself. As the game drew to a close Raivadas put in a big 3 to leave some frantic moments for the home side but they seen the win out. The final score was 47pts to 45pts. A word of thanks to Shane McKenna who stepped up for his first game with the A team, well done and we will see more of him in future games. Team & Scorers: Michael O Brien 14pts, Conor McCrystal 13pts, Ryan Treanor 8pts, Killian McAdam 5pts, Raivadas Lasas 3pts, Dylan Maguire 2pts and Shane McKenna. U18 BOYS Lisburn Phoenix 63pts Blackwater Steelers 27pts The Steelers losing streak continues at the hands of Phoenix in their return game. The previous outing last November had Phoenix victorious with a 50pt to 26pt win but unfortunately the Steelers had neither the conviction nor the will to contest this game. Again, lack of vision and speed on the ball was evident in their play. The first half was well contested, trailing 32pts to 18pts at the buzzer so spirits should have been high enough. They were 14pts down going into the second half so a comeback was possible but try as they did, too many opportunities were lost in offence, heads dropped and the Steelers defence suffered. Phoenix took the second half 31pts to 9 pts. With five more games to play in the season these lads need to step up to the plate to avoid a total whitewash. Next Game will be at home on Saturday 17th January against Queens. Team and Scorers: A. Escriban 6pts, S. Seskevicius 5pts, J. Deery 5pts, G. Esteve 3pts, J. Gallagher 2pts, S. Gilbane 2pts, D. Lapinskas 2pts, A. Vasiliauskas 2pts, and E. Campbell Sunday U16 girls This was a very early morning trip for the 16s, some players were missing but fortunately we had the minimum number of ten needed to play a game. The first quarter starters were: Natasha Hughes, Bethany Fitzpatrick, Aoibheann Mc Quaid, Amy Mulligan and Laura Nally. The teams matched up pretty evenly, with both finding scores hard to come by. As a result the first quarter ended 4-3 to Lisburn. The second quarter starters were: Alison McBride, Kelly McCormill, Sinead McGuirk, Rachel Gallagher and Morgan McKenna. It was in this quarter the Steelers gained momentum and gained the lead. Kelly McCormill worked particularly well, getting a lot of rebounds and the majority of scores in the quarter. Half time score was 6-14 to the Steelers. The third quarter was a bad one for the Steelers. They found it hard to get scores whereas Lisburn didn’t; Lisburn outscored the Steelers 10points to 2points. Therefore at the end of the third, the Steelers lead had vanished as both teams were tied with 16points a piece. The girls needed to finish strong if they were to come home with the win and fortunately they did. Amy Mulligan stepped up to score some much needed points, getting seven out of her twelve points in the last quarter which effectively got the Steelers over the line. Final score was 22-27. Next game is Sunday against Tyrone Towers at home. Team and Scorers: Amy Mulligan 12pts, Kelly McCormill 7pts, Morgan Mc Kenna 4pts, Alison Mc Bride 2pts, Natasha Hughes 2pts, Sinead Mc Guirk, Aoibheann Mc Quaid, Rachel Gallagher, Bethany Fitzpatrick, Laura Nally U 14 Girls Lisburn Phoenix 22pts BWS 34 pts The U 14 girls continued their unbeaten run through this season with another decent performance. They sit comfortably on top of the table. Team and Scorers: Alex Mulligan 22pts, Lara O Mairtin 8pts, Katie O Reilly 2pts, Hannah O Reilly 2pts, Gemma Johnston, Helen Mc Crystal, Chloe Nixon, Hannah Sherlock, Riona Kilpatrick, Mollie Maguire, Caoimhe O Hanlon U 12 Girls Lisburn Phoenix 8pts BWS 16pts This was the first game after the Christmas break, and it took a while to get into the game against a much improved Lisburn side. The first quarter was scrappy, with both sides giving away the ball too easily, and neither side looking dangerous in offence. It ended with a score of 3pts to 2 in our favour.
The 2nd qtr was better from our point of view as we managed to take our chances and get a few more scores, however they were very hard fought.
The 2nd half of the game was a little better as we got more chances, and were very unlucky not to make more of them count. On a plus side, our defence was strong, with all the girls upping their game considerably to deny the Phoenix girls. The game ended with a score of 16pts to 8 to the Steelers.
Team and scorers: Holly McQuaid 6pts, Rachel Callery 4pts, Shonagh Wykes 2pts, Katie Deery 2pts, Hannah Maguire 2pts, Áine Ni Dhufaigh, Rigan Clinton, Sheenagh McKenna, Aoife McElroy, Leah Smith, Ava Ross and Hannah Turley
U 14 Boys Lisburn Phoenix 32pts Blackwater Steelers 64pts After two league defeats on the trot this was a welcome victory against a Lisburn team that didn’t provide too stern a challenge. The Steelers controlled the game throughout although better defence will be needed against tougher opposition. All 12 lads got on the scoresheet and that’s something that does not happen too often. The Steelers started well, quickly ran up a lead and built it up to 20pts to 6pts, the 2nd quarter lads created chance after chance and although they weren’t as clinical as the previous lads they still ran the score up to 33pts to 12pts. The Monaghan side eased off a little in the 3rd and 4th but still won both quarters by 16-10 and 15-10 and came away with the victory. Team & Scorers: Ben Ryan 13pts, Karl Gallagher 10pts, Luke Coyle 8pts, Ogie O Dhufaigh 7pts, Michael Meehan 6pts, Gavin McPhillips 6ts, Kai McCaffery 4pts, Lorcan O Rourke 2pts, Dylan McKenna 2pts, Conor McKenna 2pts, Ieuan Williams 2pts and Ryan Murphy 2pts. U16 B Boys: Lisburn Phoenix 36pts Blackwater Steelers 52pts With 4 U 14 lads playing up for missing players, we weren’t sure what to expect of the team, we needn’t had any fears, they quickly took the lead led by the energetic example of Michael McDonnell who must have covered every inch of the court. We built on that good start and by quarter end we were 14pts to 4 up. Michael was not the only hero, Aaron hit an unusual 3 pointer, Oisin was rock steady and Gavin’s scoring touch was better than in the 14s. The 2nd quarter lads were equally as good; the 14s adapted to the zone play easily and coupled with the experience of the 16s they quickly developed a fast break that tore all the fight from the home side. By half time the Steelers were 30pts to 10 up and coasting. The Steelers made sure Lisburn did not get back into the game in the 3rd and 4th with out pushing themselves, the third ended 10pts each and the home side won the fourth. Highlight of the day was the brilliant performance from Michael McDonnell. Team and Scorers: Michael McDonnell 14pts, Gavin McPhillips 14pts, Lorcan O Rourke 6pts, Conor McMahon 6pts, Oisin Murphy 5pts, Aaron Sherry 3pts, Sean Conway 2pts, Luke Brennan 2pts, Karl Gallagher and Ogie O Dhufaigh. Saturday 13th Dec 2014 Nine Steeler Teams in Action. This was another busy weekend for the Blackwater Steelers with 9 games in total, 7 of them were away to Queens and 2 were at home to the Elks. The win/loose ratio wasn’t so hot with 5 teams going down to defeat, whereas 4 came away with wins. U 16 B Queens 21pts BWS 31pts This game hinged on the first and third quarter as far as the offence was concerned but the defence restricted the home side to single digit scores in 3 of the quarters and to no score in the first so one would have to say that it was the defence that won this game. The Steelers weren’t at full strength and are still bedding in a couple of new lads but good performances from Oisin Murphy and Conor McMahon in offence and the whole of the team in defence seen them win despite a dodgy last period. Team and Scorers: C. McMahon 13pts, O.Murphy 7pts, G.McPhillips 6pts, J.Hamill 2pts, L.O Rourke 2pts, S.Treanor 1pt, O.O’ Dhufaigh, S. Conway, A.Sherry and L.Brennan. U 16 A Queens 64pts BWS 49pts This was a tough battle made even tougher by some incomprehensible refereeing decisions resulting in frustration levels running quite high. It was also an even enough contest up until the last quarter when 2 of our main players were fouled out and the home team pulled away. The Steelers had a bit of trouble with the home press at the start but got to grips after a time out, Raivadas hit 5 and Robbie 3 to claw us back into the game but we still trailed by 6 at quarter end. The Steelers pulled the game closer in the 2nd with some great play by Conor and 6pts from Killian, leaving only 2 between them at half time. The third quarter had a couple of strange unsportsmanlike fouls against the Steelers, two 3 pointers for Queens and some brilliant post play from Michael but the home side just edged ahead and grew the lead to 5. After Robbie and Michael fouled out early in the fourth Queens dominated and stretched the lead to an undeserved 15pts. The team played well despite the home decisions against them, Conor McCrystal was excellent all game hitting 13pts (a season high) and Michael O Brien had a very strong performance, but Queens Matthew Rooney dominated with a game high of 26pts. This should certainly be a close one when they travel to Monaghan. Team and Scorers: Conor McCrystal 13pts, Michael O Brien 11pts, Andrew O Connor 7pts, Robbie McAlister 6pts, Killian McAdam 6pts, Raivadas Lasas 5pts, Ryan Treanor 1pt, Dylan Maguire, Mattie McQuaid and Josh Hughes. U 14 A Queens 36pts BWS 34pts This was also a very close game but the refereeing was not to blame for this narrow defeat. The two sides, both sitting at the top of the League went at it from the start, Queens took an early lead but the Monaghan club responded and this pattern continued for the rest of the quarter. The score was 9 to 8 when the clock sounded. The Steelers dominated the 2nd period and really should have been far further ahead, the conversion rate from chances to scores was poor and thus the lead was only 4pts. Queens had the better of the 3rd quarter and the Steelers were accumulating fouls which would count against us as the game neared a close. The Steelers led by a point going into the last. The Queens number 11 had a superb last quarter as he drove time and again, picking up 10pts and numerous fouls against the Monaghan side. The Steelers did not give up, Ieuan scored a well worked 3 “pointer “from an inbound play to leave just 2 between them, they pressed, won the ball and got the shot away; however it just missed the target as the hooter went. This was tough on the lads, they played well but they know they can play better. Team and Scorers: Lorcan O Rourke 10pts, Ben Ryan 8pts, Gavin McPhillips 7pts, Ieuan Williams 5pts, Ogie O Dhufaigh 2pts, Ryan Murphy 2pts, Michael Meehan, Kai McCaffery, Conor McKenna and Dylan McKenna. U 16 A Girls BWS 46pts v Ulster Elks 31pts Last Saturdays clash against the Ulster Elks was a crucial one. For the Steelers to have a good chance at winning the league title, they needed to win by at least 4points. Fortunately for the Steelers they had a winning margin of 15points which now puts them at the top of the league table standings. Saturday’s game was not the most beautiful game to watch as there were scrappy periods and at times passing was poor. However it did possess players with determination, fight and character and most importantly the will to win. The first quarter starters were: Natasha Hughes, Bethany Fitzpatrick, Kate Aughey, Lucy Mc Donald and Amy Mulligan. The girls got off to a great start with Bethany Fitzpatrick scoring a lay- up and moments later setting one up for Amy Mulligan. It was the Steelers ability to get offensive rebounds that impressed. Lucy McDonald in particular did great work to position herself well and box out her opponent to grab offensive rebounds. In addition to getting offensive rebounds the defence was great in this quarter, all players worked well and intelligently to hold the elks to 7pts. Notably three out of their seven points came from a last second heave that unfortunately went in. First Quarter ended 14-7. The Second quarter starters were: Alison Mc Bride, Kelly Mc Cormill, Laura Nally, Morgan Mc Kenna, Rachel Gallagher with Aoibheann Mc Quaid coming on and adding to the score line in this quarter also. The elks got off to the better start in this quarter scoring the first 4points; the Steeler girls were unsettled and so a time out was called and subsequently the Steelers played with more poise. They moved the ball much more effectively and scores came as a result. Furthermore Morgan Mc Kenna drove to the basket from inside her own half to score a nice left hand layup. Kelly Mc McCormill worked extremely hard throughout and fittingly the last score of the quarter initiated from Kelly stealing the ball on defence and ended with Aoibheann Mc Quaid scoring a basket. Half time score was 26-14. The second half started with the elks in eager pursuit to cut into the Steelers lead. They applied a full court press for the rest of the game. The girls know how to and are able to break down a press quite easily, which they demonstrated at times during the game. However the combination of the pressure from the press with the intensity of the game made the girls throw some silly passes resulting in turnovers. Nevertheless they did work tirelessly to defend after doing so. Still within all the chaos there were some moments of brilliance. Amy mulligan went to the basket, got the score and the foul. With the ball being held at the top of the key, Kelly Mc McCormill cut across the basket to receive a pass, and then made an angle for herself to score whilst being fouled. As well as Natasha Hughes scoring a lovely jump shot from an inbound play. All players from one to eleven made a huge contribution to a crucial win. Everyone gave their all when they were on the floor which made the difference in the end. From losing by 3pts to the same opponent’s earlier in the season, to winning by 15points on Saturday demonstrates the character of the team. Team and Scorers: Amy Mulligan 13pts, Kelly Mc McCormill 8pts, Natasha Hughes 7pts, Morgan Mc Kenna 6pts, Rachel Gallagher 6pts, Bethany Fitzpatrick 4pts, Aoibheann McQuaid 2pts, Kate Aughey, Lucy Mc Donald, Alison Mc Bride, Laura Nally. U14 B Girls BWS 15pts Elks 52pts The girls went down to a heavy defeat in St Macartans College on Saturday but the visitors had not got the required amount of girls and played an U 16 girl down and thus forfeited the game. The game was played in great spirit and the Blackwater Steeler girls never gave up, they fought to the end, enjoying and learning as the game went on. Team and Scorers: E.McCarron 7pts, D. Ní Ghallchoir 6pts, R.Lavery 1pt, G. Duffy 1pt, E. Corrigan, M.McKenna, M. McKeown, A.Deery and M.McCormack. Sunday 14th Dec 2014 U16 Girls Queens 35pts BWS 2nds 30pts This was another strong performance by this young team. The two teams traded basket for basket for the first half of the game which saw the Steeler girls just edging ahead by 1pt at half time. Queens scored 8pts to Steelers 4 pts in the 3rd quarter and it was these two baskets that won the game. The Monaghan girls fought hard to catch up but it was not to be. Well done girls on another great performance. Team and Scorers: Lara O Mairtin 12pts, Mollie Molloy 7pts, Aisling Ni Ghallchoir 6pts, Alex Mulligan 3 pts, Caoimhe Ward 2pts, Ailbhe Rooney, Helen Mc Crystal, Grace Mc Dermot, Kate Mc Evoy, Gemma Johnston. U14 BOYS ‘B’ Queens (2) 33pts BWS 10pts This was a heavy defeat after the last two wins for this development ‘B’ team. A lot of work needs to be addressed with the new boys that have joined the team and for them this was a case of being thrown in at the deep end.
Queens took the 1st quarter 7pts to 0pts and increased their lead through the 2nd quarter, ending the 1st half 15pts to 4pts. Queens had the upper hand in man to man defence closing down the Steelers every time they crossed the half way line which had the ball handler in trouble and struggling for support.
The 2nd half proved to be equally disappointing for the Steelers only scoring 6pts to Queens 18pts. Lack of support, poor rebounding and bad passing lost this game for the Steelers. Queens were by far the better team and hopefully the boys learned from the experience.
Team and Scorers: C. Maguire 5pts, S. Ostrowski 2pts, B. Semeta 2pts, J. Maguire 2pts, A. Steward, C. Liddle, C. Meehan, K. Hackett, C. Mulligan, S. Treanor, and V. Khokha.
U12 Girls Queens 8pts BWS 13pts This was the third game of the day in Queens. The first quarter wasn’t very productive for either team as they scrambled for the ball and failed to put anything away despite numerous attempts on both sides. This quarter finished with no score on the board. The second quarter saw a bit more promise as the girls were less frantic and although Queens were a tough bunch to break through, both teams managed to clock up a couple of baskets. At half time the score was only 4 points each. The third quarter saw the girls step up a notch and they displayed some super defence. This was a good challenging match for our U12s and delighted to say they have gone unbeaten in the league so far. Well done girls – keep up the hard work! Team and scores: Áine NÍ Dhufaigh 4pts, Katie Deery 4pts, Rachel Callery 2pts, Alex Mc Kenna 2 pts, Ava Ross 1pt, Jeanette Murphy, Ally Mc Carron, Shonagh Wykes, Leah Smith, Holly McQuaid, Aoife Mc Elroy and Hannah Turley. U 12 Boys Queens 10pts BWS 26pts The U12 boys were the last of the Steeler teams to play at the end of a long weekend in residence in Queens. The game got off to a good start, with our lads breaking loose and scoring from the tip-off .Queens found their feet and put up a strong defence but with clever use of the ball and quick passing, the Monaghan men broke down the Belfast defence again and again and by halftime Steelers were in control, 16 points to 2. Queens had time to regroup during the break and had shored up their defence somewhat, leaving it more difficult for our lads to finish on scoring opportunities. We found it hard to work our way inside to shoot and rebound. However we continued to work hard, had patience, worked the ball and clocked up scores when we could, all the while, defending well under our own basket. As the final buzzer sounded, Steelers were victorious with comfortable 16 point advantage, 26 points to 10. Team: Paul Maguire - 2 pts, Peter Douglas - 12 pts, Jake Hughes - 2 pts, Aidan Mc Kenna - 2 pts, Rio Corrigan - 2 pts, Luke Cawley, Mark Donoghue, Liam Conway - 2 pts, Finn Slater, Jamie Krisiulevicius - 4 pts, Evan Ryan. Next Weeks Games There are 2 home games scheduled for Sat Dec 20th in St Macartans College and they are for U 14 B girls V Tigers at 10.30am and U 14 B boys V Tigers at 11.45am. On Sunday Dec 21st the 12,14, 16 and U 18 Boys travel to Letterkenny, there are 2 venues so both sets of games are on at 11am and 12.15. Nov 30th Steelers win 8 from 9 at the weekend This was the busiest weekend so far for Blackwater Steelers with 9 home games over the 2 days of last weekend, winning 8 from those 9 against the Phoenix was the icing on the cake, so well done teams and coaches. This was a major effort for the club and it went without a hitch, a big thank you to all the table officials that stood in to help and to all the coaches who helped out when their teams weren’t playing, thank you also to the referees who comprehensively covered the games, they rarely come in for any praise. To the parents and supporters we say please keep coming it makes such a difference to the atmosphere. Saturday U 14 Boys Blackwater Steelers 32pts Lisburn Phoenix 26pts Lisburn arrived on Saturday morning short a number of players so they forfeited the game and played a number of 16 B boys down, 5 to be exact. We thought this would be a great test for the Steelers boys so they weren’t told and they played for the points as normal. By the end of the first this was looking like a bad idea as we trailed by 8pts to 4pts. The second quarter boys made amends with Gavin and Ben combining to score 14pts. The half time score was 18pts to 14pts. The 3rd proved to be a real test and the lads stood up well to the job stretching their lead by another 4pts. The fourth was pretty even with Lisburn coming out just ahead, the final score was 32pts to 26pts. Team and Scorers: Ben Ryan 14pts, Gavin McPhillips 11pts, Lorcan O Rourke 3pts, Conor McKenna 2pts, Ogie O Dhufaigh 2pts, Luke Coyle, Michael Meehan, Kai McCaffery, Dylan McKenna, Ryan Murphy and Ieuan Williams. U 16 B Boys Blackwater Steelers 41pts Lisburn Phoenix 30pts The 16 B boys got their 2nd win of the campaign with a dynamic display against the Phoenix. With a number of late cry offs, sickness during the week, a few 14 boys playing up and a couple of debutants the Steelers weren’t sure what way this game would work out. A good start was essential and the boys raced into a strong lead in the first, Lisburn hit a bit of form in the 2nd but the Steelers kept with them basket for basket stealing a basket more in the last 30 seconds to leave the half time score at 23pts to 11. The Monaghan lads blew them off the court in the 3rd by 13 pts to 3pts to lead 36 to 17 but then lost focus in the last and performed poorly, they still won the game comfortably enough by 41pts to 30pts. Team and Scorers: Conor McMahon 9pts, Shane McKenna 8pts, Gavin McPhillips 8pts, Przemek Karkut 6pts, Hubert Scheinbach 4pts, Lorcan O Rourke 3pts, Sean Conway 2pts, Luke Brennan 1pt, Aaron Sherry, Jason Hamill and Ogie O Dhufaigh. U 16 A Boys Blackwater Steelers 59pts Lisburn Phoenix 22pts This was a good comprehensive win for the A team with an excellent performance to back it up. The 1st quarter was tight, both sides played well, Robbie and Michael combining well to score 8 of the 10, the Lisburn 8 hit all their scores. The 2nd quarter lads increased the pressure and the lead with 2 notable 3 pointers from Andrew. The half time score was 29pts to 17pts. The Steelers dominated the 3rd and the 4th with some fast, precise play and thoroughly deserved their win. Well done lads, this was an excellent display. Team and Scorers: Michael O Brien 16pts, Andrew O Connor 13pts,Killian McAdam 7pts, Ryan Treanor 7pts, Robbie McAlister 6pts, Josh Hughes 6pts, Dylan Maguire 2pts, Conor McCrystal 2pts, Raivadas Lasas and Mattie McQuaid. U 18 Boys Blackwater Steelers 26pts Lisburn Phoenix 50pts This was the fourth loss in a row and no league points gained for this struggling U18 panel. Phoenix were far the better team with a good height advantage under the boards and speed in their offence. The Steelers found it very had to settle down in the 1st quarter trailing 13pts to 7pts so a little more aggression was needed by the big lads and the ball needed to move more quickly into the post players. Unfortunately the 2nd quarter was the game loser. Lack of structure both in offence and defence let Phoenix add another 16pts to Steelers 3 Pointer by Davydas. 8 minutes of play and only 3pts is poor. Going into the 2nd half 29pts to 16pts down the boys became more focused, not on winning the game but reducing the score line and demonstrating something positive. The Steelers made good use of their bench in both the 3rd and 4th quarters giving all the boys court time but still losing the 2nd half 21pts to 16pts, a far better performance all be it against a less than strongest Lisburn.
Watching the game unfold quarter by quarter, this was far the worst basketball the Steelers have played this season. There is more work to be done on moving the ball with speed and using the strengths within the team, especially the big strong lads under the board. Team and Scorers: A.Vasiliauskas 9pts, J. Gallagher 5pts, J. Deery 5pts, D. Lapinskas 3pts, S. Gilbane 2pts, E. Campbell 2pts, M. Rudanovas, A. fields, A. Escriban and G. Esteve. Sunday U 14 Girls BWS 46pts Phoenix 29pts This was their third win from three and a great start in the league for this group of girls; they will take a bit of stopping! Well done girls. Team and Scorers: Alex Mulligan 9pts, Helen Mc Crystal 8pts, Lara O Mairtin 6pts, Aisling Ni Ghallchoir 5pts, Mollie Molloy 4pts, Hannah O Reilly 4pts, Katie O Reilly 4pts, Hannah Sherlock 4 pts , Cliodhna Mc Ardle 2pts, , Riona Kilpatrick , Mollie Maguire. U16 A Girls BWS 36pts Phoenix 17pts After a narrow 3pt defeat to the Ulster Elks the Steeler girls were looking to bounce back with a win at home against Lisburn Phoenix. The first Quarter starters were: Natasha Hughes, Bethany Fitzpatrick, Kate Aughey, Amy Mulligan and Lucy Mc Donald, with Meghan Mc Kenna coming on in this quarter also. These girls got off to an impressive start, scoring 20pts in the quarter. Amy Mulligan scored 12pts in the first, exploiting her superior footwork in conjunction with much improved finishing around the basket. Natasha Hughes had a good quarter also driving hard to the basket and getting fouled in the process to send her to the free throw line, as well as scoring a wonderful outside shot. In addition she was also left with the task of marking Lisburn’s best player, holding her to just 2pts in the first quarter and 4pts in the entire game. Bethany Fitzpatrick came up with two lovely baskets in this quarter also; the first initiating from her strong defence, where she stole the ball and drove to the basket herself to score a layup. The second came from her making the effort to sprint up the floor on a fast break opportunity; Natasha Hughes rewarded her for doing so, passing the ball to her to score another layup. Overall this quarter was a good one offensively and defensively, with all players on the floor working well together and contributing in some way. After the first the score was 20-6. The second quarter starters were: Kelly Mc McCormill, Alison Mc Bride, Sinead Mc Quirk, Rachel Gallagher and Morgan Mc Kenna, with Aoibheann Mc Quaid joining them. In terms of scoring this quarter was quite the opposite of the first. There seemed to be a lid on both baskets as both teams found it hard to score. At times passing was poor but on the contrary at times passing was excellent. What was missing was the last piece of an offensive play, someone to drive hard to the basket or to be able to finish around the basket which generally this group does well. Unfortunately today finishing was poor therefore only 2pts was scored in the quarter but fortunately for the Steelers there defence was good therefore Lisburn only scored 2pts as well. At the half the score was 22-8. The girls started a little sluggish in the third but eventually got going and got some scores. Natasha Hughes fed the ball inside well to Amy Mulligan who was a constant threat for the Steelers. Kate Aughey worked well on defence and came up with a great steal inside her own half from which she dribbled strong to the basket to score a layup. In particular there was good communication on defence from the girls but again a few easy scoring opportunities missed which should have put the Steelers a lot more ahead entering the fourth quarter. The third quarter finished 30-13. The same pattern of play continued in the fourth quarter. Kelly Mc McCormill started off the scoring with a jump shot off the feed from Natasha Hughes, followed by two more baskets from Amy Mulligan. The final score was 36-17. A good win for the team, but a lot needs to be improved on. Too many easy scoring opportunities missed. Next league game is against the Ulster Elks on the 13th of December; A crucial encounter. Team and Scorers: Amy Mulligan 20pts, Kelly Mc McCormill 6pts, Natasha Hughes 4pts, Bethany Fitzpatrick 4pts, Kate Aughey 2pts, Lucy Mc Donald, Morgan Mc Kenna, Rachel Gallagher, Sinead Mc Guirk, Meghan Mc Kenna, Alison Mc Bride& Aoibheann Mc Quaid. U 12 Girls BWS 37pts Phoenix 11pts This was the third good win on the trot for our girls and is a great start to the league.
Both teams started nervously enough, with possession being given away by both sides, but it soon became clear that the Steelers were the better side. They fought hard and hustled well and stole a march on the opposition winning the first 11pts to 3. It continued that way for the rest of the game, giving the Phoenix girls very little in the way of chances. The enthusiasm from the girls and their willingness to learn is a credit to them, and will see them do very well in the future. Well done girls.
Team and scorers: K Deery 16pts, A. Ross 6pts, R. Callery 4pts, A. Ni Dhufaigh 4pts, H. Turley 3pts, S. McKenna 2pts, H. McQuaid 2pts, J. Murphy, A. McCarron, H. Maguire, C. Clinton and R. Clinton.
U 16 B Girls BWS 30pts Phoenix 23pts After being walloped down in Lisburn the last time these two met there was a certain amount of trepidation about playing these girls again but the Steelers were more up for the game this time round and the home side more than matched them all through. This was a good win and will do their confidence no end of good. Well done girls. Team and Scorers: Alex Mulligan 14pts, M. Molloy 6pts, A. Ni Ghallchoir 4pts, C. Ward 4pts, L. O Mairtin 2pts, H. Mc Crystal, A. Rooney, G.Johnston, K.McEvoy, C. Veale and G.McDermott. U 12 Boys BWS 47pts Phoenix 16pts After a very successful two days at home in the Sem, the last game of the weekend was left to the U12 boys. Unsure of how strong the lads from Phoenix would be, the youngest of the Steeler boys took to the court, determined not let the side down. A strong start during the first quarter was built upon in the second and by half time it was clear that the Monaghan lads had control of the game. During the second half, our lads extended their lead considerably and by the final buzzer it was remarked that every man on the home team had scored, bringing our final tally to 47 points to 16. Well done lads! Team and scorers: E. Ryan 2 pts, P. Douglas 8 pts, D. Sherry 4 pts, J. Hughes 7 pts, A. Mc Kenna 2 pts, F. Slater 2 pts, J. Krisiulevicius 4 pts, A. Mc Donnell 2 pts, L. Conway 2 pts, P.Maguire 2 pts, N. Lavery – 4 pts, T. O’ Rourke 8 pts. Next Games Sat Dec 6th U14 A Boys play Star 2nds at 11am in St Macartans College, and this is followed by the U 18 boys who also host Star at 12.15. Sun Dec 7th U 14 Girls play Lisburn at 10am in St Macartans College and this is followed by the U 16 boys and the U 18 boys who host North Star of Derry. Nov 22nd
U 14 B team wins in Newry: Newry 8pts Blackwater Steelers 19pts
The first quarter was very low scoring, the play was all rather compressed as both teams cancelled each other out, the Steelers were the better team but they just could not put it in the basket, they led by 3pts to 0.
The second period was more open and the Steelers would have been further ahead but for the very tall Newry lads who kept blocking our shots. The skill of faking and going around these taller lads has yet to be mastered, however the lads did well winning this period by 6pts to 2pts.
The 3rd was tight as well but Newry never really threatened to come back into it, the Steelers tacked on another 3pts. The Monaghan side slacked off a little in the last letting the home side win this period marginally by 8ps to 7ptsa rather tall sided Newry B team.
U16 Girls: Ulster Elks 32pts Blackwater Steelers 29pts The U16 girls had their biggest test of the season last Saturday, coming up against their biggest rivals the Ulster Elks. The game didn’t disappoint as it was a close competitive match throughout. The first quarter starters consisted of Natasha Hughes, Bethany Fitzpatrick, Laura Nally, Amy Mulligan and Lucy Mc Donald. This quarter was a tightly contested one, with the Steelers having the advantage inside but the Elks having the advantage outside on offence, with their sharp shooting. As a result the Steeler scores came from inside play and the Elks scores came from outside shooting. The Steeler defence was quite good in this quarter but even under immense pressure the Elks were putting up difficult shots and unfortunately for the Steelers these shots were going in. The first quarter ended 10-6 to the Elks. Alison Mc Bride, Kelly Mc Cormill, Kate Aughey, Rachel Gallagher and Morgan McKenna started the second quarter. This group of girls worked well in this quarter and gained some good momentum. They held the opposition to just 4pts and on the contrary scored 12pts of their own. At the half the score was 14-18 to the Steelers. The second half started with the elks in eager pursuit to gain the lead back. They moved the ball well and unfortunately for us the zone applied wasn’t being executed aggressively enough to the liking of the coach and again the opposition managed to get jump shots up. Whereas the Steeler girls were working hard but their shot selection and execution wasn’t good. As a result the third quarter ended all level at 24pts a piece.
The Elks started the fourth quarter better than the Steeler girls scoring four baskets in a row without any response; a time out was called. Subsequently the girls applied a full court zonal press which caught the Elks totally off guard. The press worked brilliantly and the girls stole possession back every time it was applied, but regrettably the girls couldn’t make the most out of all the opportunities the press created for them.However they did deny the elks from scoring for the rest of the game and scored five points themselves, but they just came up short losing by 3pts in the end. Unfortunately shot selection and finishing let us down. Furthermore in retrospect the coach would have done one or two things differently. Nevertheless a lesson was learned and the team will continue to work hard. Next up is Lisburn Phoenix at home on Sunday the 30th. Team and Scorers: Amy Mulligan 10pts, Rachel Gallagher 6pts, Natasha Hughes 5pts, Kelly Mc Cormill 4pts, Morgan Mc Kenna 2pts, Lucy Mc Donald 2pts, Alison Mc Bride, Kate Aughey, Bethany Fitzpatrick, Laura Nally and Aoibheann McQuaid.
U 14 B Girls: Ulster Elks 34pts Blackwater Steelers 26pts Unfortunately the Steelers slumped to their second defeat of the day in Jordanstown when the Elks girls over powered them in a storming first quarter display. To the teams credit they fought back and made a real contest out of the rest of the game and with a little more luck might have piped the Elks. With 2 of their best players well warmed up having played in the previous game the Elks started like a steam train and caught our girls by surprise, unfortunately we let them run free and they scored freely. When the buzzer went to signal the end of the period the Steelers were 16pts to 1pt down. The 2nd quarter girls improved and made it much more difficult for the Elks; they fought harder, ran harder and played better but still only managed 4pts on the board. A little more composure under the basket would have certainly helped but the experience just isn’t there. The Elks scored 10pts to give them a 26 to 5 lead. You would be forgiven for thinking the game was dead and buried, but Dearbhla, Eadaoin, Grace and Mia had other ideas, they took the game to the Elks and started to score with ease. Every girl chipped in as players switched in and out, each one upping the work rate another notch, the defence was heroic as the Steeler girls give everything to the cause. We had set targets for this period and we had surpassed them. The Elks were on the ropes as the Steelers won the quarter 17pts to 2pts. With just 6pts between them now, the Steeler girls had winning on their mind and they went out determined to pull this one out of the bag. Try as they might they could not continue the scoring momentum, defences were on top and the scoring was subdued. The Elks won this one by 6pts to 4pts and won the game by 8pts. In some ways this felt like a win as the girls gained so much from their fight back, and hopefully the experience will have them better prepared the next time out. Well done girls!! Team and Scorers: D. Ni Ghallchoir 13pts, E. McCarron 11pts, M. McKenna 2pts, A. McAllister, A. McElvaney, A.Deery, E. Corrigan, G.Duffy, M.McKeown, M. McCormack, R. Lavery and Rossa Gilsenan.
U 16 B Boys: Blackwater Steelers 32pts Omagh Thunder 42pts The Steeler boys entertained Omagh on Sunday, this was the 2nd time they have played them this season and it was a second win for the Tyrone town team. This game however was a lot closer and the lads played quite well during the game. Omagh were great on transition in the last game so the lads were pre warned to get back on defence and slow the game to suit their own pace, so they competed on rebounds, ran the floor really well and kept Omagh at bay. It was only at the end of the quarter that the visitors stole the lead. 6pts to 8pts was the score. Aaron Sherry was having a great game and he drove the team on with his energy, the Steelers hit back, but the Omagh no.7 was on court and he picked up 6pts with some good shooting. Despite some good team play by the Steelers, Omagh extended their lead to 7pts by the end of the quarter. The half time score was 21- 14. The third was an evenly matched period, the Steelers were dominant at the start and pulled within 2pts but Omagh pulled away again with good transition play. The quarter ended 8pts to 7; but significantly no real inroads were made to the deficit. Omagh stayed strong in the last and stretched the lead out to 10pts to seal the win. The Steelers can take heart from their performance despite the defeat and feel sure that the 2nd win of the season is coming soon. Team and Scorers: C.McMahon 12pts, A.Sherry 6pts, P. Karkut 6pts, M.McDonnell 4pts, L. Brennan 2pts, O.Murphy 2pts, C.McKenna, O. O Dhufaigh and G.McPhillips. Home Games The Steelers have 4 home boys’ games this Saturday in the SEM against the Lisburn club starting at 11 with the 14 boys followed by the 16Bs at 12.15, 16As at 1.30 and the 18 boys at 2.45. On Sunday its the turn of the girls mostly, U 14As at 10am, U 16As at 11.15, U 12s at 12.30, U 16Bs at 1.45 and last but not least the U 12 Boys at 3pm. Good luck to all!! BRILLIANT WIN FOR STEELER 12’S 15 November 2014 The U 12 boys were the toast of the club this weekend when they travelled to Belfast and conquered Belfast Star making a bit of history in the process. This is the first time the Steelers have beaten Star in A level basketball.All 3 other teams that travelled on Sunday suffered defeat. On Saturday 4 games were played in St Macartans College with the U 14 B boys, U 12 girls and U 16 A girls all winning whereas the 16 B girls and 18 boys lost out, this was a tremendous weekend of basketball. U 14 B Boys Blackwater Steelers 15pts Newry 1 13pts This was a well-deserved win for these young warriors with a good display of self-belief against an equally good Newry side. The game was low scoring one, Newry had a height advantage throughout, but failed to maximize their strengths whereas the Steelers and home advantage but were unlucky not to score more. With the right balance in the first and second quarter, the Steelers were able to finish the 1st half on an equal 7pts each. Points were very had to come by and the Steelers tended to lose some concentration in their offence which resulted in loose passing, but once the 2 pt lead was gained they were determined not to let this slip away. The Steelers defended well in the 4th quarter as Newry tried to gain control, and with 20 seconds remaining, the Steelers had possession, they passed the ball around like “old pros” allowing them to run the clock down and take the win. Team and scorers: C. Maguire 5pts, A. Stewart 4pts, J. Maguire 2pts, C. McIvor 2pts, C. Mulligan 2pts, L. McKenna, C. Liddle, C. Meehan, and D. Treanor.
U 12 Girls: BWS 20 pts Letterkenny Blaze 18 pts Scores were hard to come by in the first quarter but it wasn’t for the want of effort from both sets of girls. Eventually the home side stole a march on Blaze and led by 4pts to nil at the quarter end. The visitors won the 2nd by 6pts to 5 but the Steelers built up a lead mid way through the third and looked to be in control, then things took a turn and Blaze clocked up three in a row to make it 18pts to 16pts going in to the last. The pressure really came on the home girls when Blaze levelled the score but they battled hard and gradually got the basket to win the game. This quarter saw some serious nail biting on the sidelines not to mention the odd few screams but the girls showed real grit and determination to secure the win The final score 20pts to 18 points. We as coaches are delighted with the enthusiasm of these young players, many of whom made their debut today. So we'll done to each and every one! U 18 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 56pts Letterkenny Blaze 59pts This was a great performance from these U18 lads after the heavy defeat from Queens in their last game. Strong rebounding from Aris, Shane and Davydas combined with good ball control and structured offence had the Steelers taking the 1st Quarter 21pts to 13pts. This great start was what was needed, dominating Blaze, a team that shows no mercy when they are in front. The 2nd quarter was a little less productive as the Steelers let an 11pts lead slip allowing Blaze back in the game with the half time score 34pts to 33pts in the home sides favour. Showing more determination and aggression in the 3rd quarter, the Steelers took the advantage again taking 14pts to 10pts. Unfortunately this did not carry through into the 4th quarter. As some poor passing in the Steelers back court crept in and lack of concentration appeared, Blaze took the lead in the closing seconds. Blaze outscored the Steelers in this period by 16pts to 8pts. When a team has the lead, the 4th Quarter should be about holding possession and running the clock to their advantage. The away game to Blaze in December will be well contested as these Steelers boys now know they have the beating of this team. Team and Scorers: S. Seskevicius 20pts, J. Deery 9pts, S. Gilbane 8pts, J. Gallagher 8pts, A. Vasiliauskas 7pts, E. Campbell 2pts, D. Lapinskas 2pts, M. Rudanovas, A. Fields, R. Zhu, G. Esteve and A. Escriban. U 16 Girls: BWS (A) 53pts v BWS (B) 21pts The U16 A team had their first home game of the season, against a team who were also having a home game; the Blackwater Steelers Seconds who have a number of the U14 team playing up plus some very promising new players The girls started sluggishly but soon settled into the game and got some scores. Amy Mulligan in particular was in form on offence and as a result scored eight out of the ten first quarter points. The first quarter ended 10-6. In the second quarter, the girls pushed on to extend their lead and outscored the opposition 16pts to 2pts. Scoring in this quarter was more balanced among the players with four different girls scoring baskets. The same type of play continued in the second half and with substitutions being made regularly; every player was heavily involved in the play at some stage throughout the game. The game finished 53pts – 21pts This was a good win against a developmental squad, who did cause problems and exposed weak areas in the team, which will have to be worked on. For that reason the team will need to be much more efficient with improved concentration on both defence and offence for this week’s clash against the Ulster Elks. 16 A Team and Scorers: Amy Mulligan 14pts, Rachel Gallagher 8pts, Morgan Mc Kenna 8pts, Kelly Mc Cormill 7pts, Sinead Mc Guirk 4pts, Meghan Mc Kenna 4pts, Natasha Hughes 2pts, Laura Nally 2pts, Alison Mc Bride 2pts, Lucy Mc Donald 2pts, Kate Aughey, Bethany Fitzpatrick & Aoibheann Mc Quaid. 16 B Team and Scorers: A. Mulligan 7pts, C. Ward 6pts, M. Molloy 4pts, A. Ni Ghallchoir 2pts, A. Rooney, K.McEvoy, L.O Mairtin, C. Veale, N.McClean & C.McArdle. Sunday Nov15 U 12 Boys: Belfast Star 24pts Blackwater Steelers 36pts The Blackwater Steelers U12 boys made a substantial bit of club history on Sunday when they became the first A boy’s team from the club to beat Belfast Star in a league game in 6 years of trying. Not only did they win but they won comfortably and in Star’s own home court. Well done boys you should take a bow. Taking to the court at 11:15, the young Steelers knew that Star were going to challenge them but the Monaghan lads started well, showing strength at both baskets and for the most part, matched the Belfast men score for score until a lucky shot dropped and we trailed by just two points at quarter end. In the second, Steelers upped the pace and even though Star followed suit, our lads clocked up 10 points, to a 2 point response from the home team. The boys really dominated this period and were good value for their 6pts lead. With another very strong performance in the third we were 9 points ahead at the beginning of the last quarter and we dared to dream, could the lads hold their nerve if Star came back. The Monaghan men may have taken the foot off the pedal a little at the start of the fourth and Star took the opportunity to pull back to within 5 points but the Steelers quickly put the foot down again and worked hard, they emphasised their superiority on the day by stretching the lead out to 12 pts by the final buzzer. The game finished 36 points to 24. Congratulations and well done lads!! By the time these two meet again in March, Star will have done a lot of work with these lads and they will all improve individually and collectively so don’t rest on your laurels lads, keep working with the basketball at home and working hard at training. Team & scorers: No.4 Jamie Krisiulevicius, No.5 Luke Cawley 2 pts, No.6 Daragh Sherry 2 pts, No.7 Jake Hughes 2pts, No.8 Rio Corrigan 2pts, No.9 Tiernan O Rourke 14pts, No.10 Peter Douglas 14pts, No.11 Mark Donohue, No.12 Liam Conway, No.13 Evan Ryan, No.14 Adrian Mc Donnell. U 14 Boys: Belfast Star 54pts Blackwater Steelers 20pts As the scoreline suggests this was a complete wipe out, the Steelers were outfought and outplayed as Star showed no mercy. After our 12 boys won their game in brilliant fashion maybe the 14 boys thought this would be easy and Star might be slipping from their perch on the top of boy’s basketball, which they have held for years: this was not the case. Star started at a furious pace and the Monaghan lads just could not live with them, they passed and moved so fast, at times the Steelers looked completely lost, worst of all they were more aggressive and out hustled us in every department. They led by 16pts to 4 at the quarter end The 2nd quarter was worse and we did not even register a score, 13pts were scored without reply. It was damage limitation in the 2nd half; the Steelers rallied in the third and won the quarter by 12 pts to 6pts only for the home side to turn the screw in the 4th. The game finished with Star winning by 54pts to 20pts. The only positive to be taken is that we can’t be this bad again. Team and Scorers: K. Gallagher 10pts, C. McKenna 4pts, L.O Rourke 4pts, B. Ryan 2pts, D.McKenna, O.O Dhufaigh, L.Coyle, I. Williams, M.Meehan, R.Murphy, G.McPhillips and K. McCaffery. U 16 Boys: Belfast Star 50pts Blackwater Steelers 41pts Star U 16s looked to get off to the same start as their U 14s did and they were fast out of the traps, they moved the ball like lightening in transition and the Steeler boys looked like they could get over run as the home side bagged 6early points. After a time out the boys upped the pressure and Robbie scored on the break, and bagged a free for his efforts. Josh put in a rebound to leave a point between them but their Irish International Smye shot a two to leave the score at 8pts to 5pts. The 2nd quarter boys went out determined and levelled up the score after a basket from Andrew and a free shot from Killian. But Star came back, and with the quality they have got were able to seize on any mistake or on any glimmer of an opportunity, they went ahead again. Conor McCrystal forced some errors and the Steelers got one back, Star stretched it out again but Andrew scored a brave lay-up and bagged the free as well to leave just 5 between them. Half time score was 18pts-13pts. The third period can sometimes be the decisive one but this wasn’t really the case for this game. Star pushed on and stretched out the lead but the Steelers hit back with a big “3” from Raivadas, he followed this with a two. Robbie levelled the game with 2 from the charity stripe and Star got a little nervous but Smye and Henvey popped up with 7pts to give them a 7pt lead going into the last. The score was 32 to 25. Smye stretched that lead in the fourth before Steelers made changes, they pressed hard and forced Star into a few errors, Conor, Andrew and Michael O Brien were excellent for Steelers but we just couldn’t make any inroads into the Star lead. The first quarter ended with a 3pt lead for Star and they built 2pts on to that lead after each quarter to finish the game 9pts up. The final score was 50pts to 41pts. This was a good performance from the boys though. Team and Scorers: Andrew O Conor 10pts, Conor McCrystal 7pts, Michael O Brien 7pts, Josh Hughes 6pts, Robbie McAlister 5pts, Raivadas Lasas 5pts, Killian McAdam 1pt, Dylan Maguire, Ryan Treanor and Gavin McPhillips. U 18 Boys Belfast Star 63pts Blackwater Steelers 53pts Having produced a strong performance against Blaze on the previous day, these boys were taking a strong conviction and Sprit with them as they travelled to Belfast to take on Star. As in previous meetings on this court, it was Star who played it to their advantage. Less than full size, Star were well used to pressing the ball in the smaller court where as the Steelers found it frustrating to open up their game. Losing the 1st quarter 21pts to 12, the Steelers opted to change their zone defence to a half court press. With the pressure now on the Star offence, the Steelers forced errors and took the 2nd quarter 10pts to 7pts. A great recovery gained going into the second half only 6pts down. As hard as the boys tried in the second half, Star had a slight edge and managed to widen the score line bit by bit. The Steelers took 31pts to the 36pts from Star. The man to man marking by Star on the Steelers proved difficult and was compounded by the smaller court so hopefully the return game will be to the Steelers advantage. Team and Scorers: A.Vasiliauskas 14pts, S. Seskevicius 12pts, S. Gilbane 8pts, D. Lapinskas 6pts, J. Gallagher 5pts, J. Deery 4pts, M. Rudanovas 2pts, A. Escriban 2pts and G. Esteve. Successful weekend for Steelers There were five Blackwater Steelers teams in action over the weekend; all five were away from home in the city of Belfast. The under 14 and 16 girls played and beat Queens on the Saturday, the under 12 boys and girls travelled to Andersonstown on the Sunday and came home with 2 victories but the unfortunate team from the five were the U 16 b boys who were unable to beat the Tigers in their encounter. Sat Nov 8th 2014 U14 Girls (A): Queens 10pts Blackwater Steelers 47pts The U14 girls settled in quickly to their game and held strong in defence. The intensity of their defence on these less experienced Queens players lead to easy steals and fast breaks down the court. Score at the end of the first quarter was Steelers 13 Queen 0pts. This type of play continued for the entire match with the Steeler players rebounding well, moving the ball around and creating those unstoppable fast breaks with easy scores at the end. Queens’s first basket came in the last quarter of the game. Final score Steelers 47 Queens 10. Team and Scorers: Mollie Molloy 14pts, Aisling Ni Ghallchoir, 12pts, Lara O Mairtin 8pts, Alex Mulligan 6pts, Cliodhna Mc Ardle 3pts, Helen Mc Crystal 2pts, Gemma Johnston 2pts, Hannah Sherlock, Ella Garland, Chloe Nixon, Riona Kilpatrick, Caoimhe O Hanlon.
U16 (A) Girls Queens 30pts Blackwater Steelers 52pts Next up were the U 16 girls and a win was what was sought after and a win was what they got. Queens put on their strongest five to begin with but the Blackwater Steeler starting five of Natasha Hughes, Bethany Fitzpatrick, Laura Nally, Amy Mulligan and Lucy McDonald were up to the task. Both sides were evenly matched therefore appropriately the first quarter ended level with both teams 6pts a piece. The guards fed the ball inside well and as a result the BWS scores came from the inside play of Amy Mulligan and Lucy Mc Donald. The 2ndquarter starting line-up consisted of: Kelly McCormill, Kate Aughey, Sinead McGuirk, Morgan McKenna and Rachel Gallagher, with Meghan McKenna coming on to help out also. It was in this quarter the girls gained the edge as well as the lead. Some very good ball movement created great scoring opportunities which the girls took efficiently. In particular the inside duo of Morgan McKenna and Rachel Gallagher complimented each other brilliantly. With the addition of Meghan Mc Kenna into the five during this quarter the BWS girls had the height advantage with resulted in more rebounds and less second chance opportunities for Queens. The first half finished 22-12. In the3rd and 4th quarter the girls added to the lead outscoring Queens in both. Kelly McCormill worked tirelessly on both ends of the floor and scored the first eight points of the 3rd quarter. Bethany Fitzpatrick was a nuisance to Queens on defence and gave her opponent no room to do anything productive with the basketball. As too was Kate Aughey who came up with two steals which resulted in the same player scoring two baskets. Natasha Hughes elevated her play on both ends of the floor in the second half and combined well with Kelly McCormill in transition play. Overall a great team win, with everyone playing good minutes and playing their part. A great mixture of post and guard play pushed the girls past Queens with a final score line of 52-30. Next up the team plays the tougher Ulster Elks side on November 22nd away. Team and Scorers: Kelly Mc McCormill 12pts, Rachel Gallagher 10pts, Morgan Mc Kenna 8pts, Amy Mulligan 6pts, Natasha Hughes 6pts, Kate Aughey 6pts, Sinead Mc Guirk 2pts, Lucy Mc Donald 2pts, Meghan McKenna, Bethany Fitzpatrick & Laura Nally. Sun Nov 9th U 12 Girls: Andersonstown Tigers 5pts Blackwater Steelers 34pts
First out on court of the 3 teams that travelled were our under 12 girls, and this was their first league game of this season This is the first time in a couple of years that BNI have run an under 12 league for girls, preferring an under 13 instead, and as such, none of these girls have played any competitive basketball before.
As expected, there were some nerves going into the game, but the girls settled into their task very well right from the tip-off, and played some very exciting basketball. They racked up a score of 12 to 2 in the first quarter, and while the second quarter wasn't as high scoring, it was clear the Steelers had the upper hand. Third and fourth quarters saw the Steelers put 18 points on the scoresheet without reply from the Tigers. Defensively the Steelers for the most part were strong, denying the Tigers any clear chances.
U 12 Boys Andersonstown Tigers 15pts Blackwater Steelers 43pts The Under 12 boys were up next and this was their first away game of the season. There were a few nerves, as some of our lads were still quite new to the basketball court, but they were sure that they would be up the challenge and were determined to give it their all. The game started slowly – each team taking a while to settle in and get a feel for their opponents. Steelers slipped ahead by the end of the first quarter, up by four points. The Monaghan men came out strong in the second, quickly building in confidence and surged further ahead. Tigers re-grouped at halftime and came out strong in the third, giving our men something to think about. It took the Steeler lads a few minutes to get to grips with the Belfast men, but they soon took control of the quarter and went on to win the match well, with a fantastic team performance - 43 points to 15. Team and scorers: No.5 Peter Douglas -14 points, No.6 Paul Maguire- 3 points, No.7 Tiernan Ó Rourke – 6 points, No.8 Luke Cawley, No.9 Aidan Mc Kenna, No.10 Jake Hughes – 8 points, No.11 Mark Donoghue, No.12 Liam Conway, No.14 Rio Corrigan – 4 points, No.15 Aaron Sherry – 4 points and No.16 Jamie Krisiulevicius – 4 points. U 16 B Boys Andersonstown Tigers 48pts Blackwater Steelers 27pts The Under 16 b boys knew, heading north on Sunday that they had a major challenge ahead of them. Tigers were a strong team with the added threat of a very skilful and fast point guard. The game started at a pace and the Monaghan men worked hard in defence. Up the other end of the court we had many chances but the ball just didn’t seem to want to drop. By the end of the quarter we trailed by 7 points but felt the game was far from lost. Tiger’s star player took to the court in the second and our point guard was charged with marking him tightly in an attempt to reduce his effect on the game. Ógie was up for the challenge and where ever their number 8 went, our number 4 was there before him, piling on the pressure and limiting his scoring chances. In offence, the Steelers men continued to attack and had many opportunities, but again, the ball would not go in the hoop. The game continued in this vein, the incomplete passes, coupled with the frustration at near misses began to eat away at the Steelers boys and the young Tigers pulled a little further ahead each quarter. The lads gave a good account of themselves and the score line does not reflect the game they played. It ended 48 points to 27 to Tigers, but on another day, we could have won. Team and scorers: Hubert Scheinbach 8 pts, Oisin Murphy 7 pts, Gavin Mc Philips 5 pts Przemek Karkut 4 pts, Jason Hamill 2 pts Michael Mc Donnell 1 pt Luke Brennan, Aaron Sherry, Conor Mc Mahon & Ógie Ó Dufaigh. Busy Weekend Ahead There have been changes to Blackwater Steelers schedule this weekend. They have definitely 3 home games on Saturday now starting with the U 14 B boys at 10.30am against Newry 1, and then the U 12 girls entertain Blaze at 11.45 followed by the U 18 boys at 1pm and then possibly the inter club game between the two U 16 girls teams at 2.15pm but that has to be confirmed. On Sunday the U 12, 14, 16 and 18 boys play Star in Belfast starting at 11.15 with the 12s, 12.30 for the 14s, 13.45pm for the 16s with the 18s on at 15.00. Good luck to all the teams in action this coming weekend. 4 win’s from 5 for Steelers
Blackwater Steelers had 5 games over the weekend and it proved to be a successful enough couple of days with the lads securing 4 wins. 3 teams went down to Belfast on Saturday with the U 14B and 16B sides winning but the U 18 boys took a heavy defeat. Sunday saw 2 home games in St Macartans against Towers for the 14 & 16 A boys and they both won.
U14 ‘B’ Boys
Queens C 5pts Blackwater Steelers 49pts The U14 B lads had a very convincing win over a weaker Queens C team. The Steelers will meet Queens B in this league also which will no doubt be more competitive.
It was clear to see at the half time interval that the Steelers had a victory in hand scoring 20pts with no reply from Queens. The second half proved to be equally productive. The Steelers stole the ball with ease and created some good offensive plays. This was a game that gave these lads some confidence after the loss to Omagh last week but they should not let complacency set in as games will get tougher.
Team and Scorers: A. Steward 12pts, K. Hackett 7pts, C. McEvoy 6pts, J. Maguire 6pts, C. Maguire 6pts, C. Mulligan 4pts, D. Treanor 2pts and C. Meehan.
U16 B Boys Queens 24pts Blackwater Steelers 39pts
Next up were the 16 B boys and after losing to Omagh in the first game of the season the boys were up to win this one. The Steelers got off to a great start going 7 pts up but Queens found their feet and pulled a couple of scores back but the Steelers led by 9pts to 4 by quarter end.
The Monaghan team stretched out the score in the 2nd and took complete control with a 12 to 2 quarter score and unless there was a colamitity they would go on to win. Although the last two quarters were tighter there were no problems and the Steelers won by 39pts to 14pts. This was a good team performance with a number of strong individual showings from some players.
Team and Scorers: G.McPhillips 15pts, M.McDonnell 9pts, O.Murphy 7pts, C.McMahon 5pts, H. Schienbach 2pts, L.Brennan 1pt, J. Hamill and P. Karkut.
U 18 Boys Queens 81pts Blackwater Steelers 31pts As the score line suggest, the Steelers took a heavy defeat against a well drilled and fast Queens’s team. A first quarter of 20pts to 4 pts in favour of Queens showed the difference in experience and skill between the two sides and the level of ability.
Changing from a zone defence to half court man to man in the 2nd quarter should have slowed down the Queens offence but some confusion among the players let Queens turn it to their advantage adding another 31pts to Steelers 7pts. Half time had Queens well ahead - 51pts to 11pts. The Steelers were never going to come back from this 40pt difference so the objective was to slow down the game and try to narrow the margin. With this in mind the Steelers had the best quarter of the game taking 13pts to Queens 16pts. With tiredness and frustration taking its toll the Steelers fought through the last quarter showing more determination and aggression than in the first half.
Team and Scorers; J. Gallagher 10pts, A. Vasiliauskas 6pts, S. Seskevicius 5pts, D. Lapinskas 4pts, J. Deery 4pts, G. Esteve 2pts, A. fields and E. Campbell.
Sunday U 14 A Boys Blackwater Steelers 42pts Tyrone Towers 9pts
The Steelers U 14 boys were just too strong for their opposition on Sunday as they chalked up their second successive win of the season.
The first quarter seen some good play from the home side but with a better conversion rate they could have led by more than the 8pts to 4pts scoreline.
The 2nd quarter sealed the game as the boys raced into 22pts to 6pts lead; Towers could not handle the height and presence of Gavin McPhillips who helped himself to a strong 17pts.
The third period was a rout with Towers failing to register a single score, but mention must be made of the Steelers defence at this stage, they all defended brilliantly and stopped any Towers attacks getting near the hoop.
With the game won the last period was subdued and only a few scores were taken. Team and Scorers; Gavin McPhillips 17pts, Karl Gallagher 10pts, Lorcan O Rourke 6pts, Luke Coyle 4pts, Ieuan Williams 2pts, Ryan Murphy 2pts, K.McCaffrey 1pt, O.O Dhufaigh, Michael Meehan and Dylan McKenna..
U16 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 46pts Tyrone Towers 29pts The under 16 boys were on court next against a strong Towers team that have a decent record in this fixture over the years but the Steelers prevailed this time with quite a comfortable victory.
The start was important and the home side made a great start with shots from Robbie McAlister and Dylan Maguire, then Robbie found Mattie McQuaid free on a number of occasions and he converted and the Steelers were 8pts up. After a time out Towers came back strong but the home defence played well, won the rebounds and really controlled the quarter, they conceded a couple of shots but Steelers won this quarter by 17pts to 11.
The Monaghan side pushed on in the 2nd, again they pretty much controlled the quarter with all 5 lads getting on the scoresheet. The defence was superb restricting Towers to just 4pts and giving the Steelers a half time lead of 32pts to 15pts.
Although the game was not won the Steelers just needed to play with their heads, react well to a press if it was employed and take their opportunities when they came. Towers did press and did score a few baskets but a score from Michael O Brien and a 3 pointer from Dylan steadied the ship and the home side won the quarter by 11 pts to 9pts.
The fourth was a scrappy affair with only 8pts scored between the 2 teams, the game finished with a comfortable home win by 46pts to 29pts.
This was a good win and the boys played well with some excellent passing moves and everyone got on the scoresheet.
Team and Scorers: D.Maguire 9pts, K. McAdam 7pts, R. McAlister 6pts, M.McQuaid 6pts, A. O Connor 5pts, M. O Brien 5pts, C.McCrystal 2pts, J. Hughes 2pts, R. Lasas 2pts and R. Treanor 2pts..
Mixed Start for Steelers St. Macartans College was the venue for the first Blackwater Steelers home games of the new season on Saturday last when Letterkenny Blaze took 3 boys teams down; this was followed by an U 14 Girls development game with a brand new team Peace Players International from Belfast. Meanwhile 2 other girl’s teams travelled the short distance to Dungannon to play Tyrone Towers, so it was a busy start and a moderately successful start winning 5 from 8.
U 14 A Boys Blackwater Steelers 47pts Blaze 17pts The absence of one of Blaze’s stronger players certainly left the home side’s job a bit easier but credit must go to this young team for the way they dispatched their opposition with consummate ease and aplomb.
They strode out to a 10 to nil lead in the first quarter and stretched the margin to 12pts in the 2nd although Blaze improved enough to hit 8pts. The 3rd and 4th were no problem for the Monaghan boys as they grew in confidence and ran out winners by 47pts to 17pts. You could not ask for a better start! Team & Scorers: K.Gallagher 10pts,G.McPhillips 9pts, L.Coyle 8pts L.O Rourke 7pts, C.McKenna 6pts, B.Ryan 5pts, D.McKenna2pts, M. Meehan, O.O Dufaigh, C.Mulligan and C.Liddle.
U 12 Boys Blackwater Steelers 23pts Blaze 18pts This was much a much tighter affair, a first league outing for many of these kids which would have made them more than a little nervous. To their credit they held their nerve to the end and deserved their first league win.
Despite losing the first period by a point the Steelers bounced back to lead 9pts to 6pts at half-time, the third ended all square and by the end of the fourth the home side had a victory margin of 5pts.
Team & Scorers: R. Corrigan 10pts, N.Lavery 4pts, P.Douglas 3pts, D. Sherry 2pts, J.Hughes 2pts, P.Maguire 2pts, L.Cawley, E.Ryan, A.McKenna, M.Donohue, F.Slater and A.McDonnell.
U 16 A Boys Blackwater Steelers 30pts Blaze 44pts Unfortunately the all winning day came to a halt when the U 16 boys succumbed to the faster running Blaze boys. Right from the start Blaze used a very up tempo fast breaking game that the home side just could not handle. They led 14pts to 8pts at the end of the first but at one stage it looked like it could have been worse. The 2nd quarter produced an opportunity to pull it back and build a lead but the second part was squandered and the game finished level at the break. The visitors blazed a trail in the third as they out rebounded and out ran the Steelers and took a commanding lead rendering the fourth quarter relatively unimportant, Blaze won comfortably.
Team& Scorers: K.McAdam 8pts, R.McAlister 7pts, M.O Brien 7pts, J.Hughes 6pts, A.O Connor 2pts, R.Treanor, D.Maguire, C.McCrystal, M.McQuaid and R.Lasas
U 14 B Girls Blackwater Steelers 18pts PPI Belfast 9pts
The Steelers got the day back to a winning day with a wonderful performance from the U 14 B Girls team, most of these girls were making their debut in the league which makes their start even better.
The game got off in a slow pace but the home side managed to gain an advantage by 4pts to 2pts, they held this in the 2nd scoring 2 and holding the visitors to no score.
The 3rd quarter display won the game, the Steelers racked up 12 pts to no score but there was nearly a sting in the tail as the Peace Players came roaring back in the last scoring 7pts to the Steelers no score. The home side held out and won the game.
Team & Scorers J.Deery 6pts, K.Gallagher 6pts, R.Lavery 3pts, A.McAlister 2pts, M.McKeown 1pt, R.Gilsenan, C.McGuirk, E. Corrigan, M.McCormack, M.McKenna, G.Duffy and E.McCarron
AWAY GAMES Meanwhile we had 2 teams travelling away to Dungannon and both came home victorious, so overall Saturday was not a bad start with 5 games won and only 1 lost
U 14 A Girls Tyrone Towers 37pts Blackwater Steelers 41 pts
After the Steelers built up an early lead there was no stopping them with everyone getting great court time and building up much needed experience.
Team and Scorers Alex Mulligan 12pts,Aisling Gallagher 8pts, Lara O Mairtin 8pts, Hannah Sherlock 4pts Mollie Molloy 2pts, Caoimhe Ward 2pts, Hannah O Reilly 2pts, Mollie Maguire 2pts, Gemma Johnston 1pts, Cliodhna Mc Ardle, Ella Garland, Chloe Nixon.
U 16 Girls Seconds Tyrone Towers 15 pts Blackwater Steelers 36 pts
The Steelers have entered 2 teams in the U 16 A league and the seconds had their first outing on Saturday and they accounted easily for a weakened Towers side. Great to get off to a winning start for the 2014-15 season. Team and Scorers Mollie Molloy 10pts, Alex Mulligan 10 pts, Lara O Mairtin 8pts, Ailbhe Rooney 4pts, Ciara Veale 2pts, Caoimhe Ward 2pts, Grace McDermott, Nicole McClean, Kate McEvoy, Aisling Gallagher, Cliodhna Mc Ardle.
Sunday Oct 12 U 14 B Boys Blackwater Steelers 15pts Omagh Thunder 23pts Sunday brought 2 Omagh boys teams down to St.Macartans College and first up were the U 14 B Boys. This was a tough first game of the season for this newly formed bunch of lads. With a couple of new players and the rest of them moving up from U12, this was still a good performance against a strong Omagh side. Some work needs to be done both in defence and offence to bring the team together and produce some results. The Steelers found it hard in the first half only scoring 3pts to the 13pts Omagh secured. Omagh had one big lad that caused a lot of trouble and was very hard to handle but eventually he fouled out, giving the Steelers some relief. The second half produced some fine passing and assists in offense for the Steelers but they were unable to claim back the points lost in the first half. I have no doubt that these lads will find their strengths and work well together as the season progresses.
Team and Scorers J. Maguire 6pts, C. Liddle 4pts, A. Steward 2pts, L. McKenna 2pts, K. Hackett 1pt, C. McEvoy, C. Meehan, C. Mulligan, D. Treanor and C. Maguire. U 16 B Boys Blackwater Steelers 38pts Omagh Thunder 56pts
This turned out to be another comprehensive beating for the Steelers but Omagh deserved their win. Again for the second day running the Steelers were out rebounded and out ran all game.
From the start it was clear they were playing in a higher gear as they raced into a strong lead. The Steelers abandoned the zone defence they were employing because Omagh were getting to the hoop quicker than we were getting back. Omagh lead by 15 to 7 at quarter end.
The Steelers fought back and played quite well in the 2nd and won the quarter by a point, but we tired in the third as Omagh upped the intensity again. Omagh knew the game was won by the fourth and they eased up a little winning by 56pts to 38pts.
It was some consolation to hear that the Omagh boys had spent a 2 week basketball holiday in the US in July training and playing in 5 different states and had stayed training since they came home because their game was at a different standard to ours, far faster and far more intense. I believe these boys would be a match for our A team.
Team & Scorers C.McMahon 10pts, P. Karkut 8pts, M.McDonnell 7pts, G.McPhillips 7pts, H.Scheinbach 4pts, J.Hamill 2pts, L.Brennan, A.Sherry and O.ODufaigh
No Games next weekend There are no league games scheduled for the weekend 18th & 19th of October as the club has a big involvement in the All Ireland Inter Regional Tournament in Galway, 5 Steeler girls and 6 Steeler lads will be playing for the North East Region in the competition so GOOD LUCK TO ALL!! |
Game Schedule
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