Blackwater Steelers played host to 8 East Cavan Eagles teams for the first weekend of competition of the New Year. The results were a mixed bag with the Steelers coming out on top for 5 of the 8 ties.

U14 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 23pts East Cavan Eagles 42pts

The games started on Saturday with the U 14 boys, both vying for a place in the Top 4 but the Eagles soared highest in the first two quarters and led by 25pts to 12pts at half time. It was going well for a good part of the first but a few bad passes and a bit of panic when the Eagles pressed was enough to derail the lads. They fought well for the rest of the game but the Eagles ruled the court.

Team & Scorers: J. Wright 10pts, C. Murphy 4pts, A. Elsayed 4pts, J. Murphy 2pts, J. McConnan 2pts, F. O Gallchoir 1pt, S. Woods, A. McKnight, B. O Brien and M. Corrigan

U12 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 51pts East Cavan Eagles 18pts

This was a huge win for the U 12 Girls and should put them up into the Top 4 places. They held Eagles scoreless in the first and third quarters while racking up big scores themselves. The girls eased up in the last quarter and this was the only period they lost.

Team & Scorers: E. McGinnity 10pts, G. Wright 2pts, A. Callery 8pts, N. Maguire 3pts, K. Farmer 6pts, A. Maguire 18pts, S. O Reilly, C. MacCiona 3pts, G. Lennon, E. McCague, N. Corrigan and C. O Riordan.

U16 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 43pts East Cavan Eagles 48pts

The girls were unbeaten up to this and truthfully they really should have won this one too but maybe there was just too much pudding eaten over Christmas. They were behind by 3 after the 1st Quarter but went 5pts clear in the 2nd with an excellent passage of play. They then went further ahead in the 3rd before tiring drastically and losing some vital scores towards the end of it. They led by 2 but the momentum had changed and everything went eagles way as they outscored the Steelers by 13pts to 7pts in this period.

Team & Scorers: B. McNally 10pts, Paula 4pts, A. Ni Dhufaigh, H. McQuaid 7pts, A. McKenna 2pts, A. Ross, E. McDonald, N. O Connell 16pts and Rachel Callery 4pts.

U14 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 23pts East Cavan Eagles 36pts

The Steeler girls went down against a decent Virginia team in the last match of the day and they were always 2nd best to the visitors. They lost all the quarters bar the last one.

Team & Scorers: K. Trainor 6pts, A. Trainor, A. G. McCongaille 3pts, E. Curran 4pts, E. McDonald 2pts, A. McSkeane, D. Corley 2pts, B. John, L. Lennon, S. Healy, A. McCormack, A. McGinnity 6pts.

U16 Dev Boys: Blackwater Steelers 38pts East Cavan Eagles 20pts

This was an all-round good win with some very good personal performances from lads like Matthew McVicar, Luke Kelly and Paul Maguire. The defence was good all game and we had a fairly sharp cutting edge in offence. There will be tougher games ahead but well done to all the lads.

Team & Scorers: L. Kelly 13pts, M. McVicar 8pts, S. Swift 8pts, B. Myers 4pts, P. Maguire 2pts, E. Shiels 2pts, G. Treanor 1pt, S. Kelly, F. Slater, S. Metcalfe and D. O Riordan.

U12 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 30pts East Cavan Eagles 18pts

These lads were in total control of the game from the start, 15 to 0 up after the 1st, won the 2nd with comfort too and were ahead by 20pts going into the last. The only time they looked a little uncomfortable was when the Eagles pressed in the last. It was a very aggressive press that overstepped the rules and went unpunished for the most part throughout the quarter. Still the lads persevered and won the point. This was an impressive win.

U16 A Boys: Blackwater Steelers 49pts East Cavan Eagles 27pts

The Steelers started slowly but held a lead from early in the first quarter. The score was 9pts to 4pts with a good spread throughout the team. After a couple of scores from Matthew Curley early in the 2nd, Donacha O Hanlon came on and hit 2 “3 pointers” to put some distance between the teams. The lads pushed the score out to 33pts to 15 in the third and wrapped the game up in the last.

Team & Scorers: M. Curley 15pts, D. O Hanlon 9pts, R. Corrigan 7pts, L. Conway 5pts, M. McMorrow 5pts, L. Cawley 4pts, C. Harpin 2pts and J. McCague 2pts.

U18 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 68pts East Cavan Eagles 24pts

This game went as anticipated with a strong win for the Steelers. The home side were never really pushed throughout the game and won all 4 quarters. Well done lads, it will get harder.

Team & Scorers: C. Liddle 21pts, S. Uglis 15pts, C. McKenna 14pts, L. McKenna 6pts, K. Ziubrys 6pts, D. McKenna 4pts, C. Mulligan 2pts, K. McCaffery and L. Shiels.

Away to Dunshaughlin Sunday 13th January

• U12 Dev Boys 11am
• U18 Boys 12pm
• U14 Dev Boys 1:30pm
• U14 Girls 3pm             
• U14 A Boys 4:30pm

The Steelers had 4 games on Sunday with local rivals Carrick Cruisers and were the winners in all 4 matches.

U14A Boys: Blackwater Steelers 45pts Carrick Cruisers 33pts

The Steelers won by 12pts but this game was closer than that and Carrick showed enough all game to have pushed them even closer at the finish. There was only 3pts between them going in to the last, but the home side had a good last quarter and sealed the game. The quarters went 13pts to 8pts, 8pts each, 11pts to 13pts and then in the last 13pts to 4pts.

Team & Scorers: Cian Murphy 10pts, Fionan O Gallchoir 9pts, Harvey Colleran 6pts, Jack McConnan 6pts, Andrew Walsh 4pts, Mark Corrigan 2pts, Sean Woods 2pts, Ben O Brien 2pts, Ali Elsayed 2pts, Aidan McKnight 2pts and Jack Murphy.

U16 Dev Boys:

Blackwater Steelers 28pts Carrick Cruisers 12pts

This was a very slow-paced poor game in which the boys did not do themselves any justice. Maybe it was a lack of confidence after a few defeats, but they are a better team than they showed against this team and the Carrick coach said the same about his lads. Despite this they won the game and collected a much needed 3pts winning the first, third and last quarter.

Team & Scorers: Luke Kelly 8pts, Shea Swift 6pts, Ben Myers 4pts, Enri Shiels 4pts, Jake Hughes 2pts, Finn Slater 2pts, Che Treanor 2pts, Sean Metcalfe, Sean S. Kelly, Matthew McVicar and Gary Treanor.

U16 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 64pts Carrick Cruisers 43pts

This was a comfortable win for the U16 Girls who remain the only unbeaten team in the club. They were good value for the win despite a spirited performance from the Carrick team.

U12 A Boys: Blackwater Steelers 30pts Carrick Cruisers 24pts

The U12 lads made no mistake in picking up the win against their local neighbours and were the better team throughout. The boys will have a good test this weekend against Dundalk Ravens when they fly into town.

U16 Girls: Muckno Lakers 24pts Blackwater Steelers 44pts

This important top of the table clash was played earlier in the week and the Steeler girls were dominant throughout winning the first two quarter 11 to 2 and 11 to 8. Muckno Lakers fought back in the third and won that by 4pts before the Steelers made sure with an emphatic performance in the last winning it by 12pts. The games against Muckno are always intense and there is a fierce rivalry between the two clubs at this age group in girls’ basketball going back years so well-done girls.

Team & Scorers: N. O Connell 19pts, R. Callery 11pts, H. McQuaid 8pts, A. Lorenzo 4pts, B. McNally 2pts, A. Ross, K. Deery, P. Macias, E. McDonald, L. Hernandez, A. Mc Quaid and A. Ni Dhufaigh. 

The Steelers travelled the short journey to Cavan Lakers with 10 teams over the course of the weekend. A number of those teams were unbeaten going into these fixtures, but the unbeaten runs came to an end when they ran up against a series of very strong Cavan teams. They must just breed them bigger and stronger over there as the Steelers were outsized in a lot of the games. Credit too to the work that is being done by the Lakers, they have come along way in a short few years.

On Saturday the 16 Dev boys lost by 20pts, the 14 Girls lost by a point in a tight affair, the 12 Girls by 22pts but the U 12 Dev Boys finished off the day with a very hard-fought win by 15pts to 12pts. So, there was little enough to cheer about for the Steelers on Saturday.

However, Sunday was a new day and there was optimism in the air. The optimism was short lived as the Cavan Lakers U 12 A Boys got the better of the Steeler boys by 16pts. This was followed by another defeat with the U 14 A Boys succumbing to a 12pt loss. Then we got a win described below by coach Kellie McCabe.

Cavan Lakers 28 BWS 50

The girls started the 1st quarter very strong defensively but struggled to convert all their chances on the offensive end. Nevertheless, they still outscored their opponents 10-0. Niamh O’Connell was a force to be reckoned with under the boards, and she worked tirelessly under both baskets; she was assisted by Brid McNally. The guards did a great job and feeding the ball inside and running the floor. At times the play was sloppy and far from our best, but the team played well enough to earn a 22pt win. Next up is a tough game against Liby dynamites on Sunday the 18th.

Team and Scorers: Niamh O’Connell 18pts, Holly McQuaid 10pts, Rachel Callery 8pts, Paula Macias 6pts, Brid McNally 4pts, Lucia Hernandez 2pts, Alex McKenna 2pts, Erica McDonald, AndreaPaz Lorenzo, Cathy McKenny, Aine McQuaid and Mollie Birdy.

This would be the only glimmer of light on a bleak day for the club as next up were the U 14 Dev Boys who give their worst performance of the season and went down to a 53pts to 12 pts drumming. Next up were the 16 A boys and they played well in a very good game but threw the win away in the last quarter when it should have been wrapped up. The 18 Boys were last up and they got a lesson in teamwork from a good Cavan side. So, all in all a dismal weekend in Cavan.

Senior Men: Drogheda Bullets A 94pts Blackwater Steelers 60pts

This Drogheda A team were certainly worth their billing as the best team in the league as the they easily dispatched this young Steeler team. The Monaghan side trailed the Bullets by just 4pts in the 1st, lost ground in the 2nd and trailed by 13 at half time. They put in a great shift in the 3rd and only lost it by 4 despite losing the big centre Ramunas to injury. Drogheda had no mercy in the last as attitude levels dropped and the ran up a big score.

Team & Scorers: Killian McAdam 15pts, Mantas Zalikas 9pts, Andrew O Connor 8pts, Ramunas Ramanauskas 8pts, Ignas Vaisiula 6pts, Robert Haynes 5pts, Jack Deery 3pts, S. Arapov 2pts, H. Scheinbach 2pts, M. O Brien 2pts, M. McDonnell and A. Gecas.

Fixtures

• Senior Men: BWS v Navan C. 7pm St. Macartans College

• Libby are the visitors on Sunday with 5 juvenile teams visiting. Keep up with these fixtures on FB page.

We had 5 local derbies over the course of the weekend in Castleblaney when we clashed at U 12, 14 and 16 level. With the U 16 Girls game still to be played Blackwater Steelers have their noses in front with 3 wins and two defeats.

Saturday

U14 Boys: Muckno Lakers 67pts BWS 17pts

Muckno Lakers underlined why they are unbeaten this year as they outclassed an inexperienced Steelers team from the start to the finish. The home side were 19ts to 2pts up after the first and never looked back. This team will win the league and maybe more, they looked very good.

Team & Scorers: Cian Murphy 5pts, Ali Elsayed 4pts, Ben O Brien 2pts, Aidan McKnight 2pts, Harvey Colleran 2pts, Fionan Gallchoir, Sean O Connell, Mark Corrigan, Andrew Walsh, Andrew Graham, Jack McConnan & Jack Murphy.

Sunday

U12 Girls: Muckno Lakers 18pts BWS 34pts

Its been a few years since our U 12 Girls won in Castleblaney and maybe longer since they had such an emphatic win. Under the expert guidance of Brenda Trainor and Alex Mingorance the girls have now won 3 from 3.

U12 Boys: Muckno Lakers 22pts Blackwater Steelers 25pts

The U 12 boys competed well throughout this match, were ahead after the first, but Muckno brought it back in the 2nd. The home side strode out in front in the 3rd with a good 8pt lead, but the Steelers with a press in the last stole the lead back and won the game.

U14 Girls: Muckno Lakers 34pts Blackwater Steelers 26pts

This was an improvement from previous games and the performance was encouraging. The first quarter however was poor, and the girls fell behind. They won the 2nd brilliantly but unfortunately fell behind again in the third. The last quarter finished all square in the last and gave a glimpse of what this team might be able to do when they focus.

Team & Scorers: Katie Trainor 8pts, Alice Trainor, Bernice John 2pts, Aoife Mc Skene 2pts, Ellie Curran 2pts, Aoibheann McCormack 2pts, Dervilla Cawley, Aoibheann McGinnity 4pts, Leah Lennon, Siebel Healy 2pts and Gormlaith MacConghail 4pts

U16 Boys: Muckno Lakers 22pts BWS 66pts

Blackwater Steelers were in control of this one from the first whistle winning all 4 quarters easily enough. There were good performances from all the players in both defence and offence.

Team & Scorers: Tiernan O Rourke 18pts, Jamie Krisiulevicius 13pts, Rio Corrigan 12pts, Ricardo Vienes Cardo 9pts, Michael McMorrow 5pts, Donnacha O Hanlon 5pts, Luke Cawley 2pts, Conal Harpin 2pts, Mark O Donohoe, Joseph McCague and Liam Conway.

U18 Boys: Dundalk Ravens B 33pts BWS 72pts

Apart from the first quarter when the Ravens put it up to them, the Steelers dominated the match. Slow starts like this will hurt them when they play tougher opposition in the coming weeks. The 1st Q ended 17pts to 15 pts to the home side but the 2nd Q was a 23 to 2 blow out for the visitors. They won the 3rd and 4th comfortably to secure the points.

Team & Scorers: S. Uglis 38pts, D. McKenna 13pts, K. Ziubrys 12pts, C. Liddle 6pts, K. McCaffery 3pts, L. McKenna, L. Shiels and C. Mulligan.

Steeler Men Win Again

Dunshaughlin Rockets 63pts Blackwater Steelers 87pts

This was a very good performance from the Steeler Men and they are improving with every game. Superb shooting was pivotal to this victory, but good solid defence was the foundation stone, add in a decent fast break and the recipe for a good season is starting to come together. Mantas and Andrew were instrumental in the first quarter lead as they peppered the Rockets with some great shooting. Ramunas, Ignas and Killian all added to the scoring.

Room inside the Rockets defence was hard fought for with some very big men in there, but Agustinas, Michael O, Ramunas and Killian dominated in the first 2 quarters. The half time score was 46pts to 27pts.
The Rockets came back at the Steelers in the 3rd but the Monaghan side held firm. Ryan Treanor, Robert Haynes, Alex Mingorance and Michael McDonnell all contributed to winning the last 2 quarters as the Rockets pushed harder. This was a good away victory.

The next game is in Drogheda on Saturday at 6pm against one of the favourites.

Team & Scorers: Andrew O Connor 22pts, Ignas Vaisiula 21pts, Ramunas Ramanauskas 19pts, Mantas Zalikas 10pts, Killian McAdam 10pts, Michael O Brien 2pts, Ryan Treanor 2pts, Agustinas Gecas, Michael McDonnell, Robert Haynes and Alex Mingorance.

Fixtures  

All the junior teams are away in Cavan to play Cavan Lakers next weekend so keep your eye on our facebook page for times etc.

Blackwater Steelers entertained 8 teams from Dunshaughlin and 1 team from Navan over the course of a very busy weekend in St Macartans College. There were 2 defeats but the other 7 were wins, some emphatic but others were close battles. Thanks to all the parents who brought tea, biscuits buns and sandwiches and offered support or help where they could.

Saturday

U12 Girls: BWS 36pts Dunshaughlin Rockets 18pts

The first game of the day turned out to be one of the emphatic wins with the Steelers girl’s dominant in the first two quarters and building a lead of 24pts to 4pts. The 3^rd quarter sealed the victory before the home side eased up in the last.

Team & Scorers: Niamh Maguire 9pts, Aine Maguire 8pts, Emily McGinnity 5pts, Ciara O Riordan 4pts, Fern Treanor 4pts, Keeva Farmer 2pts, Grace Lennon 2pts, Ava Callery 2pts, Ava Murphy, Caoimhe MacCionne and Dearbhla Marron.

U14 Girls: BWS 25pts Rockets 33pts

This was the first upset of the day as the Rockets proved stronger as the game wore on. The Steelers were ahead by a point after the 1^st but the Rockets took the lead in the 2^nd and the home side were playing catch up from that on. The positives are they went down fighting.

U16 Girls: BWS 65pts Rockets 25pts

The home side was dominant from the start driven on by our Spanish contingent feeding the free scoring Holly McQuaid throughout. The girls won all 4 quarters and were a class above the opposition on the day.

Team & Scorers: Holly McQuaid 22pts, Niamh O Connell 9pts, Andrea Paz Lorenza 8pts, Brid McNally 7pts, Katie Deery 7pts, Lucia Hernandez 6pts, Aine Ni Dhufaigh 4pts, Ava Ross 2pts, Alex McKenna, Mollie Birdy, Erica McDonald and Rachel Lennon.

U16 Dev Boys: BWS 22pts Navan Cougars 59pts

The U 16 Dev team were brought back down to earth after winning their first game last week. They couldn’t live with a strong running Navan team who once in front, really put the Steeler lads to the sword.

Team & Scorers: Gary Treanor 6pts, Luke Kelly 6pts, Paul Maguire 4pts, Shea Swift 2pts, Darragh Sherry 2pts, Enri Shiels 2pts, Jake Hughes, Finn Slater, Ben Myers, Diarmuid O Riordan, Che Treanor and Lucas Kriscunas.

Sunday

U12 Dev Boys: Blackwater Steeler Buzzards 30pts Rockets 15pts.

The 2^nd day of competition started off brilliantly when these mighty U 12 boys took to the court. They were 6 – 2 down after the first, 14- 8 up after the 2^nd, the 3^rd finished with only a point in it but then pulled away brilliantly to win the last by 30pts to 15pts. This was areal rollercoaster, but the home side finished on top.

U14 Dev Boys: Blackwater Steeler Rapids 54pts Rockets 12pts.

This was another dominant performance by the Rapids to record their 4^th win from 4. They won all 4 quarters by an average of 10 or 12 points each. They were more powerful than their opposition and this told throughout the game. This win sets them up nicely for the visit to the very strong Cavan Lakers side on Sunday 11^th of November.

Team & Scorers: Oisin Reilly 12pts, Michael McNally 10pts, Jason Lambrindis 8pts, Luke Irwin 8pts, Conor McElvaney 6pts, Rory Conway 4pts, Josh Curley 2pts, Eoghan McGinn 2pts, Darragh Mulligan 2pts, Adam Hall, Ryan McMahon and Adam Lynch.

U14 Boys: BWS 36pts Rockets 30pts

This was a very close contest throughout, Rockets led by 1pt after the first, scores were even in the 2^nd and the Steelers took a 1pt lead heading into the last. They put a lot of pressure on in the last to win by 6pts. They will have tougher opposition in the local Derby with Muckno Lakers neat weekend.

Team & Scorers: A. Elsayed 8pts, F. O Gallchoir 8pts, H. Colleran 6pts, B. O Brien 4pts, C. Murphy 2pts, M. Corrigan 2pts, J. Wright 2pts, J. Murphy 2pts, A. Walsh 2pts, A. McKnight 2pts, S. Woods and D. Conlon.

U16 Boys: BWS 59pts Rockets 34pts

The 16 boys were up next and didn’t let anybody down. They started well in the first and when they got into a rhythm they played some nice basketball. This continued into the 2^nd and the home side built a nice score up. Changes were made in the 2^nd half of the game but it remained a spirited enough contest.

Team & Scorers: Mathew Curley 20pts, Rio Corrigan 11pts, Jamie Krisiulevicius 10pts, Liam Conway 6pts, Tiernan O Rourke 6pts, Luke Cawley 4pts, Conal Harpin 2pts, Michael McMorrow, Donnacha O Hanlon, Joseph McCague and Mark Donohoe.

U18 Boys: BWS 60pts Rockets 58pts

This was the tightest game of the day and it went right down to the last few seconds of normal time before a winner emerged. The home side trailed by a point after the first period, but they seemed to take control in the 2^nd. The Steelers had worked a 12pt advantage at half time and looked favourites. A combination of dogged fight from the Rockets, poor decision making by the Steelers and over the top nit-picky refereeing allowed the Rockets to pull themselves back in the game. The home side’s lead was down to 2pts going into the last, both teams were in foul trouble with limited squads and the lead swung violently throughout the last. The lads were guided through these choppy waters by the experience of the coach and won out by 2pts.

Team and Scorers: Sebb Uglis 32pts, Karolis Ziubrys 9pts, Cameron Liddle 7pts, Dylan McKenna 7pts, Kai McCaffery 5pts, Conor McKenna and Liam McKenna.

Well Done Rachel & Holly

Congratulations to Blackwater Steelers pair Rachel Callery and Holly McQuaid who played a lot of minutes for the North East Regional Girls’ Plate win in the BIPPS tournament down in Limerick at the weekend. Rachel also captained the side. They beat a strong East team by 46pts to 27pts in the plate final.

Steelers were Bullet proof on Saturday

Blackwater Steelers took on three teams from the Drogheda Bullets club and won all three games. The Steelers U 14 development team Blackwater Rapids came from behind to win, the U 12 A team were too strong for their opponents and the U 16 development side eventually came out on top in the last quarter.

U14 Boys Dev: Blackwater Rapids 32pts Drogheda Bullets 23pts

After the 1^st qtr ended and we were trailing by 8pts, you wouldn’t have given much for their chances, but the lads turned it around with great team performance. Oisin Reilly led the charge in the 2^nd quarter and with Eoghan McGinn, Jason Lambrindis and Luke Irwin involved in a lot of what was good in the 2^nd qtr, they pulled the game around scoring 17pts to Drogheda’s 3pts.

The Co. Louth team came back fighting in the 3^rd and were within 1pt of the Steelers before the home side pressed home the advantage and ran out 9pt winners.

Team & Scorers: Oisin Reilly 14pts, Luke Irwin 6pts, Michael McNally 4pts, Jason Lambrindis 4pts, Eoghan McGinn 2pts, Sennan Cudden 2pts, Orlandis Bagonnis, Max Aughey, Josh Curley, Adam McElvaney and Adam Hall.

U12 A Boys: Blackwater Steelers 47pts Drogheda Bullets 16pts

The U 12 Boys put on a super performance in the 2^nd game of the day and blew their opponents away with some great basketball which really defied their young age. They were controlled and poised as they executed some nice passing moves. With performances like this they will be hard to beat in future games.

U16 Boys Dev: Blackwater Steelers 39pts Drogheda Bullets 25pts.

This was the first time out for these U 16 boys, a mixture of lads who had left basketball for a few years and some of the U 14s from last year who went over age. The game was a tight low scoring affair in the first qtr that ended even at 6 each. Drogheda took a bit of control in the 2^nd and pushed that out into a 7pt lead going into the third. But the Steelers tightened up the defence in the last and converted more of their chances outscoring Drogheda 17pts to 6pts. There were notable performances from Shea Swift, Luke Kelly and Gary Treanor.

Team & Scorers: Shea Swift 14pts, Gary Treanor 12pts, Luke Kelly 10pts, Sean S. Kelly 2pts, Ben Myers 1pt, Matthew McVicar, Finn Slater, Darragh Sherry, Enri Shiels, Evan Ryan.

Fixtures

Dunshaughlin Rockets are the visitors next weekend with 3 girl’s games on Saturday afternoon and 4 boy’s games on Sunday. Navan Cougars also come with their boys U 16 Dev boys on Saturday too. No men’s fixture this weekend. Check out Blackwater Steeler’s facebook page for further details.

This was a good weekend for the Blackwater Steelers as all their teams out recorded victories. The men got their season underway with a win against neighbours Blaney Blazers, the 16 girls and the 18 boys had big wins and the 12 and 14 second teams both won, but the highlight of the weekend was the U 16 Boy’s comeback from a double digit deficit at the start of the last quarter to bring it in to overtime and go on and win against Drogheda Bullets.

Senior Men:  Blackwater Steelers 70pts Blaney Blazers 54pts

Killian McAdam and Mantas Zalikas were on fire for the Steelers as the opening quarter developed, they hit 18 of the 21pts and took an 8pt lead. The Steelers did not get all their own way however as the Blazers set up in a stubborn 1:3:1 defence and broke fast. The 2nd was a little more even and without ever hitting their best the home side stretched the lead by 3.

All the lads got their feet on the hardwood in the 3rd and 4th and we won each quarter but not by much as the Blazers competed tenaciously. As with all new teams its going to a while to gel everyone together, but there is loads of promise from a talented group.

Team & Scorers: Killian McAdam 21pts, Mantas Zalikas 17pts, Ramunas Ramanauskas 14pts, Andrew O Connor 10pts, Michael O Brien 6pts, Alex Mingorance 2pts, Sergey Arapov, Jack Deery, Agustinas Gecas, Robert Haynes, Hubert Scheinbach and Ryan Treanor. 

U16 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 59pts Drogheda Bullets 55pts (aet)

This game started off at a frantic pace, from end to end with some lovely fast breaking moves from both sides. Long javelin passes were the order of day for the Steelers whereas the Bullets relied on their athleticism and power. Rio, Jamie, Matthew and Tiernan all scored in this period as the Steelers raced into a 7pt lead. The Bullets number 7 couldn’t be stopped at the start of the 2nd and he drew them level. Conal Harpin came on for the home side and alongside Rio and Jamie the kept the Steelers scoreboard ticking along. The lads were working extremely hard and the sides ended level at half-time.

The Bullets owned the 3rd quarter scoring 18pts in total and took a commanding lead. At one stage near the end of the 3rd they held a 14pt lead but the Steelers hit 6pts in a row to give themselves hope and go into the break 8pts down.

The Steelers pressed in the last but lost two baskets early on and now the score was 50pts to 38. Tiernan scored from a great drive and picked up a free shot to give the Steelers heart, we pressed hard after our score and they coughed up another 6pts to leave the score at 50pts to 47pts. The crowd were willing the Steelers on and Jamie hit a big 3 to leave just 2pts in it, they made another mistake and then fouled Tiernan and he levelled the game from the free shot line. The Steelers then took the lead but their drove hard to the basket and scored picking up a free shot too. He missed and the Steelers had 16 seconds to win it, but it was not to be, the game went into overtime

The press destroyed them in overtime too and the Steelers won out by 4pts. What a tremendous game;

Team & Scorers: Jamie Krisiulevicius 19pts, Rio Corrigan 16pts, Tiernan O Rourke 10pts, Conal Harpin 10pts, Luke Cawley 2pts, Matthew Curley 2pts, Liam Conway, Michael McMorrow, Donnacha O Hanlon, Ricardo Vienes, Joseph McCague and Mark Donohoe.

U18 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 75pts Drogheda Bullets Pyros 46pts

The Steeler boys made hard work of this and trailed at half time by a point, before they hit top shooting form in the 3rd and 4th quarters. A mighty 38pts from the hands of Sebb Uglis was the highlight and certainly helped secure the win but there is work to be done in our own defence.

Team & Scorers: Sebb Uglis 36pts, Karolis Ziubrys 16pts, Conor McKenna 10pts, Cameron Liddle 7pts, Dylan McKenna 6pts, Kai McCaffrey, Liam McKenna, Brandon Heffernan and Lui Shiels.

U14 Dev Boys: Blackwater Rapids 40pts East Coast Cavaliers 31pts

The lads got off to a good start with positive play and led the 1st quarter by 10pts to 6pts. The 2nd quarter lads built on this with Oisin Reilly picking up some great lay-ups to push the lead out to 22pts to 8pts at half-time. The 3rd quarter lads had 4pts to spare going into the last. The Steelers lost the last quarter by 19pts to 10pts as complacency set in and team work went out the door. It was lucky we had a good lead.

Team & Scorers: Oisin Reilly 19pts, Sennan Cudden 8pts, Jason Lambrindis 4pts, Eoghan McGinn 3pts, Adam Lynch 2pts, Michael McNally 2pts, Diarmuid McGinnity, Ryan McMahon, Adam Hall, Luke Irwin and Rory Conway.

U12 Dev Boys: Blackwater Steelers T2 12pts East Coast Cavaliers 11pts

Another nail biter with the league points being secured in the last minute. This leaves these new lads with 2 wins from 2.

U16 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 61pts Drogheda Sparks B 19pts

This was and easy victory for this strong U 16 girls’ team and they are unbeaten after 3, so well-done girls and keep it going.

Next Week’s Fixtures

There is no men’s game this coming weekend but as stands there are games for the U 12 Boys, U14 Dev Boys and U 16 Dev Boys on Saturday. Please check the Steelers facebook page for any changes etc.

Not since the early to mid-90’s has a men’s basketball team took to the court in League Competition in North Monaghan. Back then it was the very successful Team Mona who flew the banner of basketball far and wide for this area. On Saturday night in St. Macartans College Blackwater Steelers played their first senior game in NEEB Senior League and boy was it a cracker, played a frantic pace in front of a great crowd with some wonderful talent on show. The result didn’t go the home team’s way but then again it was a tough baptism up against the reigning League Champions.

Blackwater Steelers 61pts East Cavan Eagles 76pts

Apart from a couple of lads the team is made up all ex Steelers youth players who have come up through the ages, some recently and some in the near term past. They have not had many training session together so its very much in its infancy but the team showed great promise on Saturday night.

In a free flowing first quarter the Eagles fast pace play was the determining feature as they took a 26pt to 19pt lead. The Steelers switched to a zone defence and won the 2^nd but by not enough to even the scores up as they still trailed by 5pts. The home side evened the game up in the third and actually took a two point lead but the Cavan side were super in transition and stretched the lead to 9 before the quarter break. They stayed in control during the last and the Steelers tired and fell further ahead.

Team & Scorers: Ignas Vaisiula 13pts, Ramunas Ramanauskas 10pts, Andrew O Connor 10pts, Killian McAdam 9pts, Robert Haynes 8pts, Serej Arapov 6pts, Michael O Brien 3pts, Agustinas Gecas 2pts, Jack Deery, Hubert Scheinbach, Ryan Treanor & Alex Mingorance.

U18 Boys: BWS 59pts Streete Warriors 35pts

This was a strange game and despite winning by 24pts, it never felt comfortable. It was seat of the pants basketball with very little control and but for strong scoring performances from Sebb and Cameron the Steelers would have struggled more. With Drogheda the visitors next week the boys will have to up the level of performance.

Team & Scorers: Sebb Uglis 29pts, Cameron Liddle 14pts, Karolis Ziubrys 8pt, Conor McKenna 4pts, Dylan McKenna 4pts, Kai McCaffrey, Brandon Heffernan, Liam McKenna, Lui Shiels, Conor Mulligan and Cian Maguire.

U16 Boys: BWS 67pts Streete Warriors 15pts

This was no real contest for the U 16 Boys, they were 26pts to 2pts up after the first and never really looked back. It could have been more and probably should have been but there was no necessity to be totally ruthless.

Team & Scorers: Jamie Krisiulevicius 17pts, Ricardo Vienes 10pts, Matthew Curley 10pts, Luke Cawley 10pts, Liam Conway 7pts, Conal Harpin 6pts, Donnacha O Hanlon 5pts, Rio Corrigan 2pts, Mark Donohoe, Michael McMorrow and Joseph McCague.

U14 Boys: BWS 51pts Streete Warriors 7pts

Again this was no real contest as these young Steelers got the upper hand on Streete from the get go. The quarters went 16 to 1, 9 to 2, 10 to 2 and 16 to 2. There was a good spread of scores all through the team and the most promising aspect was their passing and movement.

Team & Scorers: Ali Elsayed 14pts, Mark Corrigan 10pts, Cian Murphy 8pts, Fionan Gallagher 6pts, Harvey Colleran 4pts, Johnnie Wright 3pts, Andrew Walsh 2pts, Ben O Brien 2pts, Jack Murphy 2pts, Daire Conlon, Aidan McKnight and Andrew Graham.

U16 Girls: BWS 69pts Streete Warriors28pts

This was an easy win for the U16 girls. The game allowed the girls to practice different zone defence strategies that they have been practicing at their training sessions.

Team & Scorers: Paula Macias 17 pts, Rachel Callery 18pts, Ava Ross 4pts , Brid Mc Nally 6pts, Andrea Paz Lorenzo 2pts, Alex Mc Kenna 2 pts , Aine Ni Dhufaigh 10 pts,  Mollie Birdy 8 pts , Cathy Mc Kenny, Rachel Lennon , Alex Carlisle 2 pts. Holly Mc Quaid, Aine Mc Quaid, Niamh O Connell, Erica Mc Donald, Katie Deery

U12 B Boys

These lads got their first outing too on Sunday and they picked up their first league points courtesy of Streete travelling with not enough players.