News

The Blackwater Steelers first year in the new North East Basketball Board Region is certainly proving to be a very successful one so far with the U 14 and U 18 Boys adding to their league domination by winning the Top Four Cup at the weekend. Unfortunately the U 18 girls failed to add to their League win going down to a methodical Libby team in the final. The U 14 Girls were a little understrength when they took on Drogheda in the semi and failed to make the final.

U14 Boy’s Top 4 Semi-Final:  Blackwater Steelers 47pts Streete Warriors 19pts

The Steelers were favourites but semi-finals can be graveyards and the Monaghan lads had no intention of letting that happen as they took to the court in St. Pats College Cavan on Saturday. They hit Streete for 10pts in the first with all coming from Jamie Krisiulevicius; the lads were terrific as they kept Streete scoreless. Streete’s danger man was on in the second but with Rio Corrigan in top form, no danger materialised and the Steelers led by 16pts to 5pts at half time.

The Steelers dominated the third & fourth playing some excellent basketball, the practiced plays worked well and they kept the scoreboard ticking over throughout. Streete didn’t play to their potential but it was a great performance from Blackwater Steelers. They could now look forward to the final.

Team & Scorers: Jamie Krisiulevicius 19pts, Rio Corrigan 17pts, Kacper Ostrowski 4pts Liam Conway 4pts, Tiarnan O Rourke 2pts, Finn Slater 1pt,  Dylan McPhillips, Mark Donohue, Matthew Curley, Conal Harpin, Michael McMorrow and C. Treanor.

U14 Boy’s Top 4 Final:  Blackwater Steelers 49pts Dundalk Ravens 34pts

The Monaghan lads chilled as they watched the 2nd semi finalists play 3 sets of intense overtime before they delivered the Steelers next victims. Dundalk Ravens expended a lot of energy getting past Cavan Lakers to get to the final and the Steelers went at them like an angry dog. Tiarnan and Jamie combined brilliantly to pick up most of the scores, but Kacper, Che & Conal all played brilliantly to rack up 20pts to 2pts scoreline by the end of quarter.

However, with Dundalk danger man E. Faopito on court, the Steelers had their hands full; he hit the first two scores of this period and was threatening to take over. Liam worked extremely hard on him and if he got by him Rio was there to cover. The Steelers curtailed his influence but Dundalk owned this period and won it by 10pts to 1pt.

The 3rd was going to be crucial, the Steelers led by 21pts to 12pts, but it was the Ravens who got the first couple of scores and reduced the lead to 4pts. Kacper scored to end the drought, Jamie and Tiarnan added points and Rio drove coast to coast twice to really rattle Dundalk. Strong defence led to Jamie breaking to add two more baskets and restore the Steelers 10pt lead.

The lads went on the offensive again in the last, Kacper, Rio and Tiarnan all added scores and in doing so showed Dundalk no weakness despite Faopito lobbing in some big 3’s. They extended the lead out to 15pts, gaining revenge for their only defeat in the league this year and securing the Top Four Cup in the process. They are looking forward to the All Ireland Club Championships in Limerick in 2 weeks time.

Team & Scorers: Jamie Krisiulevicius 16pts, Tiarnan O Rourke 13pts, Rio Corrigan 12pts, Kacper Ostrowski 5pts, Conal Harpin 2pts, Mathew Curley 1pt, Liam Conway, Che Treanor, Mark Donohue, Michael McMorrow, Dylan McPhillips and Finn Slater.

U18 Boy’s Top 4 Semi-final:  Blackwater Steelers 62pts Cavan Lakers 50pts

The unbeaten Steelers lads were strong favourites to win the Top 4’s as they walked in to Dunshaughlin Community College on Sunday to take on Cavan Lakers in the first of the boys semi-finals. The Steelers started well and went 6-0 up then 8pts to 2pts before Cavan started to compete and compete vigorously they did. The Monaghan scores came only from free-shots after a time out as Cavan broke up the Steelers rhythm by continuously fouling. Michael O Brien stood up magnificently in the face of some very aggressive play. The Steelers led by 14 to 9 at quarter end.

The Lakers tails were up in the 2nd and they added a couple of nice 3’s as the Steelers changed personnel, Jason, Aaron and Robert making significant contributions. The Monaghan lads kept the scoreboard ticking over with scores from the two Michaels, Killian and Andrew from the free-shot line, Cavan led by 1pt at half-time.

The Steelers upped their game in the 3rd, the defence improved, the offence upped the pace and Andrew O Connor took the game to the Lakers, his 13pts in this period drove the Steelers into a 7pt lead that they wouldn’t give up. All the time the number of Cavan fouls kept racking up.

The last quarter was the free-shot quarter, apart from two actual baskets from Michael O Brien every other point from the 17 scored came from free shots after Cavan fouled. 3 of their lads were fouled off in this period with 2 others on 4 each. Basketball prevailed however and the Steelers won by 62pts to 50pts and awaited their final opponents.

Team & Scorers: Andrew O Connor 24pts, Michael O Brien 13pts, Killian McAdam 9pts, Cian Fitzgerald 5pts, Ryan Treanor 5pts, Michael McDonnell 4pts, Robert Haynes 2pts, Aaron Sherry, Cormac O Hanlon, Donal Leonard, Jason Hamill, Sean Conway and Shane McKenna.

U18 Boy’s Final:  Blackwater Steelers 63pts Drogheda Bullets 25pts

The Steelers were primed and ready for this and they duly delivered, they were just fantastic as they tore the bullets apart in the first quarter, the speed and quality of their play was excellent. The half court man defence did brilliantly with rebound king Killian McAdam in top form, the offence was super with scores coming from everybody. They were a treat to watch as they went 19pts to 2 up in the first.

The 2nd was similar; any hint of a comeback was extinguished as the Steelers went into cruise control. Killian McAdam was everywhere, rebounding in defence one second and on the end of a fast break the next, certainly the deserved MVP. What is so prominent in this team is teamwork and to a man they were brilliant. The game was over by half-time as the Steelers led by 41pts to 6pts.

The whole panel played their parts in the remaining quarters with the Steelers winning by 16pts to 6 in the 3rd and losing the last by 13pts to 6pts. The final score was 63pts-25pts.

Congratulations to this super Blackwater Steelers under 18 team, the final may not have been the spectacle or challenge expected but these lads have been invincible all season, unbeaten over 18 game, and as coach Tom O Connor said “the best team I’ve coached so far”.

Team & Scorers: Killian McAdam 17pts, Ryan Treanor 15pts, Michael O Brien 7pts, Cian Fitzgerald 6pts, Cormac O Hanlon 6pts, Shane McKenna 6pts, Robert Haynes 4pts, Andrew O Connor 2pts, Aaron Sherry, Donal Leonard, Jason Hamill, Michael McDonnell and Sean Conway.

Captain Michael O Brien picked both League & Top 4 Cups and the team were presented with their medals. Killian McAdam who has had a wonderful season not to mention the brilliant final was awarded the Most Valuable Player.

U18 Girls Semi-Final:  Blackwater Steelers 43pts Dunshaughlin Rockets 29pts

The girls played a great semi final, moving the ball well and attacking the basket very strongly. Amy Mulligan got fouled out early leaving us without two of our main scorers (Morgan McKenna unable to play due to injury), however this didn’t affect the outcome of the game; every player got minutes and contributed well on offense and defense, resulting in a good win.

Team & Scorers: Alex Mulligan 21, Natasha Hughes 12, Lara O Mairtin 5, Amy Mulligan 3, Caoimhe Ward 2, Rachel Gallagher, Alison McBride, Laura Nally, Aisling Gallagher, Ailbhe Rooney and Morgan McKenna (injured).

U18 Girls Final:  Blackwater Steelers 22pts Liby Dynamites 31pts

Again we entered the final without Morgan McKenna, our player of the year from last year. On top of that Alex Mulligan had picked up an injury in the previous game, however we were optimistic. We started off aggressively on offense, attacking the basket well, however we weren't finishing when we got there. Liby on the other hand weren’t getting to the basket but were getting open looks from the 3 point line which they were converting. Poor finishing cost us and we trailed by 9 after the 1st Quarter.

In the 2nd quarter we switched defense to a box and one, man marking Liby's shooter; Caoimhe Ward took on this task and did a brilliant job. The switch in defense worked great resulting in us outscoring Liby in the next two quarters; however we didn't outscore them by half as much as we should have. There seemed to be a lid on our basket!

We applied a press in the last quarter which rumbled them but also forced us into foul trouble and put Liby at the free throw line towards the end of the game to obtain easy points. On any other day I would back Steelers to take the game, unfortunately with players injured in addition to not moving the ball as well as we should have did not help, but it was poor finishing cost us the game in the end.

On a positive note, the girls played fantastic defense and their work rate was great. We didn't go home empty handed either, as we claimed the League trophy for the season. This team had a great season and was by far the best team in the league.

Team & Scorers: Alex Mulligan 7pts, Amy Mulligan 6pts, Natasha Hughes 4pts, Rachel Gallagher 3pts, Caoimhe Ward 2pts, Laura Nally, Alison McBride, Ailbhe Rooney, Aisling Gallagher, Lara O Mairtin and Morgan McKenna (injured)

U12 & U16 Top Fours

We have 3 more teams competing next weekend as well, our U 12 boys travel to Virginia Co. Cavan for the U 12 Top 4 competition where they play Muckno Lakers in the semi-final at 1.15pm. Muckno will be favourites for that but let’s hope the Steelers can spring a surprise.

On Sunday the U 16 girls play East Cavan Eagles at 11.15 in Castleblayney in the 2nd semi-final and they should progress. Also on Sunday the U 16 Boys play Drogheda Bullets at 1.45pm, they will have to play well to progress to the final.

It’s that time of year, they call it “March Madness” on the university circuit in the US and while it’s maybe not that intense over here, its every bit as important.  I’m talking about the culmination of the North East Basketball Board’s League Season in the Top Four Weekend.  First up are the U14 Boys & Girls and they will take place on Saturday in Cavan Town. Then it switches to Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath for the prestige competition, the U18 Women & Men. The following Saturday April 1st will be the turn of the U12 boys in Virginia, Co. Cavan and on Sunday April 2nd the circus will arrive in Castleblayney for the U16 competition.  Parents make sure you come out and support your kids and be a part of the very successful Blackwater Steelers family. 

The Blackwater Steeler U14 Boys will start favourites as they have already won the league with a brilliant 15-1 win record. They will play the 4th placed team and at this point they don’t know whether it will be Streete Warriors from Westmeath or Dundalk Ravens as there is still one game left to play. The Steelers will have to be at their very best to get through the Semi and win the final to complete the double. Their semi is at 12.30pm in St Patrick's College, Cavan Town.

The U14 girls just missed out on 2nd place in the League and a trip to the AICC’s by a head to head score difference with Drogheda Sparks, so revenge should be on their mind when they play Drogheda at 11.15pm in St Patrick's Cavan on Saturday. These two sides have served up two very exiting meetings with very little between them and if the Steelers can field their strongest side I fancy them to make the final.

The Blackwater Steelers U18 Women are already League Champions on a 7-1 win ratio and are favourites to win the double. The one difficulty may be that their one defeat was to their Semi-final opponents Dunshaughlin Rockets, and of course the Rockets host these Top 4’s. So a difficult court, partisan crowd and some fired up Rockets will have to be overcome to make the final, if they make the final I fancy them to go all the way. Their semi is at 10am in Dunshaughlin Community School.

The U18 Men are unbeaten League Champions and would be considered favourites too. They play 4th placed Cavan Lakers in the semi at 12.40pm in Dunshaughlin CC on Sunday. The Steelers will have to be at their best to get past the Lakers who have improved as the season went on. The other semi will be a cracker between East Cavan Eagles and Drogheda Bullets; the Bullets are on a late surge having beaten both Cavan teams recently on their dash for second place. They may take some beating!!

U12 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 36pts Cavan Laker Cubs 9pts

The U12 Boys completed their season with an emphatic win against 4th placed Lakers. They started well winning the first quarter 13pts to 4 and the 2nd 10-2 to open up a big lead. The lads hit a sticky scoring patch in the third but were good defensively, but they found the scoring touch in the last. This completes a very successful League campaign for these lads finishing 3rd on a 10-5 win ratio and earns them a Top 4 Semi against Muckno Lakers in Virginia College on Saturday April 1st. Times to be confirmed.

Team & Scorers: C. Murphy 8pts, F. Gallagher 6pts, J. McCrystal 6pts, J. Lynch 5pts, R. McMahon 4pts, O. Reilly 3pts, M. Corrigan 2pts, J. Wright 2pts, A. Walsh, E. McCaffrey, D. O Connallain and J. Curley.

The big ticket game for the Blackwater Steelers this weekend was the eagerly awaited clash between the 18 boys and 2nd placed Eagles in Virginia. It didn’t disappoint as both sides served up a cracker in front of a large crowd with the Monaghan side completing a 16 game unbeaten run in the league. The Steeler U12 & U14 teams were beaten by the Eagles earlier.

East Cavan Eagles 78pts Blackwater Steelers 94pts

This game started at a blistering pace and this was down to the homes sides’ fast break game but the Steelers got the first couple of baskets before the Eagles hit back. As the Steelers settled in to the game their combination play got better and scores from Killian, Michael, Cian and Ryan kept them in front. Our half court man defence was a little porous but after a time out it improved immensely and the Steelers took a 25 to 15 lead into the break.

Andrew O Connor lead the battle in the 2nd, he drove the Steelers on scoring 18pts in this quarter while restricting the Eagles danger man to just 6pts. To be fair the Eagles never gave up but this Steelers 18 team is deep and no matter who came in to battle they played brilliantly. They led by 51pts to 33pts.

The game became very open in the 3rd but these boys all believe they can score at any time and thus game went from basket to basket in a very open fashion. The Steelers won it by 3, extending their lead out to 83pts to 62pts. Both sets of lads tired in the last but the Monaghan side made sure they kept the scoreboard ticking over for the win.

Team & Scorers: Andrew O Connor 42pts, Killian McAdam 20pts, Michael O Brien 14pts, Ryan Treanor 6pts, Cian Fitzgerald 4pts, Aaron Sherry 4pts, Robert Haynes 2pts, Michael McDonnell 2pts, Donal Leonard, Shane McKenna, Jason Hamill and Cormac O Hanlon.

Club Record

While we at the Steelers firmly believe that the player who gives the pass to the scorer is equally as important as the actual scorer, we simply cannot ignore one of the stats from Sunday’s game, but first the history.

On Saturday 8th December 2012, Michael O’Brien set a club record by hitting 31 points in an U14 game against Letterkenny. That record lasted 5 days as Ramunas Ramanauskas hit 32 points the following Friday 14th December 2012 in an U18 game. That stood for nearly a year before on Sunday 10th November 2013, Verity O Connor (an U16 at the time) went one better by scoring 33 points in Donegal against Letterkenny in an U18 game. That stood for almost 2 years until on 25th October 2015 when Conor McKenna broke that record by scoring a brilliant 35pts against Queens 2 for the U16 dev boys. Less than 6 weeks had passed when on Saturday December 5th that record was broken again by Michael O Brien who scored a massive 41pts against Lisburn Phoeinix in the U18 B League. That record stood until last Sunday March 12th 2017 when Andrew O Connor scored a marvellous 42 points in a top of the league U18 clash. Andrew is one of the Steelers top players and has been with the club from academy up. Well done Andrew, we wonder when this new record will be broken.

U12 Girls: East Cavan Eagles 35pts Blackwater Steelers 14pts

This game was all over after a disastrous 18 to 2 deficit in the first quarter, it’s very hard to come back from that. It was even in the 2nd, but with Eagles strong 5 on again in the 3rd the game was completely gone. They had an encouraging 4th winning by 8pts.

Team & Scorers: K. Trainor 10pts, E. Curran 2pts, P. Tymkow 2pts, C. Gallagher, A. McSkeane, S. Hughes, K. Fagan, E. McDonald, H. Cunningham, L.Lennon, and A. Trainor.

U14 Girls:  East Cavan Eagles 36pts Blackwater Steelers 22pts

The Under 14 girls missed out on 2nd place and a spot in the AICC’s just like the 16 boys when they went down to Eagles in a close enough game. The Eagles got the best start and went up 12pts to 4pts in the first period but the Monaghan side came back in the 2nd winning it by 8pts to 3pts to leave the game wide open at 15-12.

Despite good defence in the 3rd the Eagles edged further ahead as the Steeler girls only managed 2pts. The effort was great from the girls but the Eagles stretched the game out in the last.

Team & Scorers: A. Ni Dhufaigh 8pts, H. McQuaid 4pts, A. McKenna 4pts, K. Deery 4pts, N. O Connell 2pts, A. Ross, H. Turley, K. McCarron, E. McColgan and L. McGinity.

Saturday

U12 Boys:  East Cavan Eagles 32pts Blackwater Steelers 19pts

The Steelers sit in a higher position in the NEBB table than their East Cavan opponents but you wouldn’t have known it this from this game. The Eagles were lying in wait in Virginia and from the first whistle they put us under pressure and slipped into a strong lead by half-time. The Steelers regrouped and rallied well in the 2nd half with flashes of great play but never really found a consistent rhythm.

Team & Scorers: F.Magee, F. O Gallchoir-2pts, D.O Connallain, A. Walsh, M. Corrigan-6pts, E. McCaffrey, C. Murphy-2pts, D. Mulligan, R. McMahon-3pts, J. Curley, R. McArdle, O Reilly-6pts.

U16 Boys:  East Cavan Eagles 25pts Blackwater Steelers 67pts

2nd place in the NEBB Boy’s Under 16 league and a spot at the AICC’s was still up for grabs when this game started and the Steelers were going to have to win to stand any chance of securing it. They won the game well, but results from other games did not go their way so they have to be content with 3rd place.

The 1st quarter was a cagey affair with both sides weighing each other up and thus quite low scoring at 10pts to 6, but the Steelers were ahead. In the 2nd Monaghan side exerted their authority on the game and pushed out into a 29pts to 15 lead, Sebastian Ostrowski hitting 10pts with Karl and Cameron grabbing the rest.

The Steelers dominated the third with Ben, Alister, Dylan, Luke and Sebb Uglis all scoring and defending well. Karl dominated the fourth as the Steelers ran out comfortable winners. Next up will be a top-four semi-final match most likely against Drogheda Bullets in Castleblayney on Sunday Apr 2nd.

Team & Scorers: Karl Gallagher 20pts, Ben Ryan 11pts, Sebastian Ostrowski 10ps, Alister Stewart 6pts, Cameron Liddle 4pts, Sebb Uglis 4pts, Luke Coyle 4pts, Dylan McKenna 3pts, Kai McCaffrey 3pts, Conor McKenna 2pts and Lorcan O Rourke.

There were 5 games in total scheduled for last weekend against Libby Dynamites from Kilsaran in Co. Louth. Libby forfeited the U 16 boys game and looked to reschedule the U 18 girls, so this left 3 games in St. Macartans on Sunday and 2 of them were crackers.

U14 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 21pts Libby Dynamites 23pts

This game was vital as both teams were fighting it out for an All Ireland place but the home side Steelers had to play with a weakened squad and thus lost out to Libby by just a basket. They looked to be coping well at half time as they had won the first quarter by 7pts to 6 and the third by 6pts to 2pts but the game was won in the third as the home side went down by 2pts to 9pts. The girls weren’t able to get ahead in the last to manage the victory.

This leaves both sides on 32pts going into the last game next week, but the Steelers have a 7pt better head to head score difference. The Steeler girls are away to East Cavan Eagles next Sunday and Libby are at home to Drogheda Sparks so as long as their result matches Libby’s, they will go through to the All Irelands, but to be certain they need to beat ECE.

Team & Scorers: Katie Deery 6pts, Kayla McCarron 4pts, Ava Ross 4pts, Niamh O Connell 3pts, Alex McKenna 2pts, Rachel Callery 2pts, Sheena McKenna, Hannah Turley, Cathy McKenna and Paula Tymkow.

U16 Girls:  Blackwater Steelers 58pts Libby Dynamites 27pts

The U 16 Girls were just too good for their Libby counter parts as they swept to an easy enough victory to keep their hopes of league success alive. The girls went about their job with a clear focus winning all 4 quarters on the way.

Team & Scorers: Caoimhe Ward 14pts, Alex Mulligan 11pts, Lara O Mairtin 8pts, Dearbhla Ni Ghallchoir 8pts,  Aisling Ni Ghallchoir 7pts, Amy Deery 4pts, Helen McCrystal 4pts, Mollie Molloy 2pts, Hannah Sherlock and Hannah O Reilly.

U12 Girls:  Blackwater Steelers 28pts Libby Dynamites 33pts (aet)

It’s hard to believe looking at the scoreline that this game went to two sets of extra time before a winner emerged. It was 26pts each at full time; it was 28pts all after a rip roaring 3 minutes of extra time and it took another 3 minutes before an exhausted Steeler team succumbed.

A look at the quarter scores 11-2, 2-9, 11-0 & 2-15 would suggest that the personnel balance on both sides needs to be addressed, and this has a big impact at this age group. The game itself was so exciting; it had everything as both sides gave their all in pursuit of the points, in the end it went to the more physical side, Libby.

Team & Scorers: E. Curran 11pts, G. MacConghaille 11pts, P. Tymkow 4pts, A. McSkeane 2pts, A. Ward, O. Sherry, K. Fagan, L. Lennon, E. McDonald, B. John, C. Gallagher and H. Cunningham.   

U14 Boys:  Blackwater Steelers 67 Ballyshannon 56pts

The Steeler boys had a challenge against Ballyshannon 99ers on Saturday as the boys had an idle day, and they won well. We played 6 periods of 7 minutes and as the game wore on the home side got better and better. At the end of the 4th the Steelers led by 17pts and this is what mattered.

Team & Scorers: Jamie Krisiulevicius 14pts, Matthew Curley 14pts, Tiarnan O Rourke 13pts, Kacper Ostrowski 8pts, Rio Corrigan 8pts, Liam Conway 4pts, Mark Donahue 2pts, Donnacha O Hanlon 2pts, Finn Slater 2pts, Che Treanor, Conal Harpin, Michael McMorrow and Enri Shiels.  

Fixtures

We are away in Virginia over the 2 days next weekend. Check the Blackwater Steelers face book page for details.

Thanks

A massive thank you to all who helped out at, participated in, sponsored rounds of questions, donated spot prizes or donated money to our annual pub quiz which was an incredible success. Thank you!!

Before this weekend the U14 Blackwater Steeler Boys had won 15 from 15 games and they were already League Champions but the shock of the weekend came when they were beaten in Dundalk by the Ravens in their league fixture. We had 7 games in total, with both the U16 boys and girls making significant league progress. The U18 women are in pole position after 2 wins and the U14 girls also won, the U12 girls unfortunately lost.

U14 Boys: Dundalk Ravens 23pts Blackwater Steelers 19pts
Despite going down to a shock defeat at the beautiful new Dundalk Sports Centre, the U14 Steelers boys are mathematically certain of winning the NEBB League, they cannot be caught.  Unfortunately they blew away their season long unbeaten record which was a real shame.  There were just too many under par performances, and a little complacency and the fact that the Ravens are quite strong at this age.

In a low scoring game both sides tied the first two quarters 7pts each and 5pts each before the Ravens won the 3rd by 2pts.  The Steelers had the chances to win the last but missed some easy opportunities and Ravens won the game by 4.  They are well organised defensively but if we meet in the Top Fours, the Steelers won’t play as badly again.

Team & Scorers: Kacper Ostrowski 4pts, Liam Conway 4pts, Rio Corrigan 4pts, Jamie Krisiulevicius 4pts, Mathew Curley 4pts, Tiarnan O Rourke 1pt, Che Treanor, Dylan McPhillips, Enri Shiels, Finn Slater, Michael McMorrow and Conal Harpin

U16 Boys: Dundalk Ravens 39pts Blackwater Steelers 51pts
The Steelers needed to win this game and it never looked like it would be easy. Dundalk were a big athletic team and they started it off like a train scoring the first 3 pts with ease. It looked like the Monaghan men would rue their “bigs” being absent but the rest of the squad were having none of it. They responded brilliantly with scores from Luke and Ben before Karl rattled in two 3 point shots, the Steelers led by 10pts to 5pts by the end of the quarter.       

The second period was very open and free scoring as the Ravens swarmed back but Karl drove at the box and one defence and found a path to score numerous times, with Dylan chipping in with a rebound basket, Alister with a free shot and Ben with 4, the Monaghan side stayed score for score and led by 23pts to 19pts.

Lorcan O Rourke and Sebastian Ostrowski came on in the third and dominated a very strong period for the Steelers; they scored all the points between them. The pressure exerted by Karl, Ben, Ryan and Cameron contributed enormously to those scores too. The Monaghan side were good enough to handle anything the Ravens threw at them in the last and ended up worthy winners by 39pts to 51pts.

Team & Scorers: Karl Gallagher 20pts, Lorcan O Rourke 14pts, Sebastian Ostrowski 6pts, Ben Ryan 6pts, Dylan McKenna 2pts, Luke Coyle 2pts, Alister Stewart 1pt, Conor McKenna, Cameron Liddle, Ryan Murphy and Kai McCaffery

U18 Girls:  Blackwater Steelers 67pts  Navan Cougars 37pts.
This was the first of two relatively easy games for the U18 girls and puts them in a strong position to win the league.

Team & Scorers: Alison McBride 14pts, Amy Mulligan 14pts, Laura Nally 10pts, Morgan McKenna 10pts, Caoimhe Ward 8pts, Lara O'Mairtin 5pts, Rachel Gallagher 4pts, Natasha Hughes 2pts and Ailbhe Rooney

U18 Girls:  East Cavan Eagles 49pts Blackwater Steelers 64pts
The second game of the weekend was played in Virginia and the Steeler girls were just too strong.

Team & Scorers: Alex Mulligan 35pts, Caoimhe Ward 8pts, Natasha Hughes 8pts, Amy Mulligan 4pts, Aisling Gallagher 3pts, Alison McBride 2pts, Rachel Gallagher 2pts, Lara O'Mairtin 2pts and Laura Nally

U12 Girls:  Carrick Cruisers 30pts Blackwater Steelers 11pts
The U12 girls came up against a very strong Carrick side and really had no answer especially to number 13 Laura McGeown who scored over half of the home sides baskets.

Team & Scorers: Katie Trainor 6pts, Aoibhin McCormack 2pts, Paula Tymkow 2pts, Orla Sherry 1pt, Catrione Gallagher, Bernice Johns, Kayla Fagan, Ellie Curran, Shannon Hughes, Ailbhe Ward, Aoife McSkeane and Alice Trainor.

U14 Girls:  Carrick Cruisers 13pts Blackwater Steelers 31pts
In this match the Steelers were too good for their South Monaghan counterparts and romped home for a much needed victory.

Team & Scorers: H. McQuaid 8pts, A. Ross 8pts, H. Turley 4pts, A. Ni Dhuffaigh 4pts, R. Callery 3pts, B. McNally 2pts, A. McKenna 2pts, K. Deery, K. McCarron, L.McGinnity and E. McColgan.

U16 Girls:  East Cavan Eagles 36pts Blackwater Steelers 39pts
This was a hard fought match for the two teams vying for second place in the league with Muckno Lakers favourites to win it but Blackwater Steelers came out on top.

Team & Scorers: A. Mulligan 23pts, A. Ni Ghallchoir 7pts, C. Ward 4pts, L. O Mairtin 2pts, G. Johnson 2pts, H. O Reilly 1pt, H. McCrystal, M. Molloy, D. Ni Ghallchoir, R. Kilpatrick and A. Deery.

Fixtures
We are at home to Libby Dynamites next weekend but as games may change keep checking the Steelers Facebook page for details.

Table Quiz
Come and support the Blackwater Steelers annual Table Quiz in Terry’s Lounge Monaghan on Friday 3rd March at 8.30pm.  Test your brain and have some fun!

Blackwater Steelers had a very successful weekend with 6 wins from 6 games over a variety of ages. The 16 Girls and 18 Boys had big wins in Carrickmacross, The U 12 Girls won in Streete as did the 14, 16 and 18 Boys, and these were all quite competitive games apart from the 18 boys who were too good for the opposition.

U18 Boys: Carrick Cruisers 24pts Blackwater Steelers 106pts

The Steelers were in tip-top form on Saturday morning when they travelled to the Phoenix Centre in Carrickmacross and blew past the home side. Although the score was big what most impressed was the performance and the way the lads gelled. The Carrick lads put in a great effort, with great heart and spirit throughout but on the day they just couldn’t compete with a team who were on top of their game.

Team & Scorers: Michael O Brien 28pts, Robert Haynes 20pts, Ryan Treanor 19pts, Andrew O Connor 16pts, Killian McAdam 13pts, Cormac O Hanlon 10pts, Sean Conway, Jason Hamill and Donal Leonard.

U16 Girls: Carrick Cruisers 29pts Blackwater Steelers 63pts

This was the 16 Girls first game since the Christmas Break, and they had a gentle return to competition when they travelled to the Phoenix Centre on Sunday morning. After a slow start, they settled into a good rhythm and ran out comfortable winners on a strong 63-29 scoreline.

Team & Scorers: Aisling Ni Ghallchoir 17pts, Lara O Mairtin 14pts, Caoimhe Ward 8pts, Alex Mulligan 8pts, Helen McCrystal 7pts, Dearbhla Ni Ghallchoir 6pts, Gemma Johnston 2pts, Hannah Sherlock, Riona Kilpatrick and Mollie Molloy.

U14 Boys: Streete Warriors 32pts Blackwater Steelers 43pts

The Steeler lads have had a 3 week break since their last game and although they started off at a slow pace, they still bossed the first quarter. They took an 8pts to nil lead with Liam Conway scoring 3 of those baskets. The referees were asserting their influence on the game more and more but the lads rose to the challenge in the 2nd, Mathew, Jamie, Michael, Donnacha and Rio all scored to give us a comfortable 22 to 9pts lead.

Streete came back very strongly in the 3rd, but the lads showed great character to withstand the pressure. The home team were opening gaps in our defence which was worrying but our offence performed well and kept the scoreboard ticking over; we won the third by 11pts to 7pts. The pressure was upped again in the last as Streete pressed, some questionable decisions went the home side’s way and the home crowd bayed for a capitulation. The Steelers stood strong and seen out the win; although they lost this period by 16pts to 10pts.

Team & Scorers: Rio Corrigan 13pts, Kacper Ostrowski 8pts, Liam Conway 6pts, Matthew Curley 6pts, Jamie Krisiulevicius 4pts, Donnacha O Hanlon 2pts, Finn Slater 2pts, Michael McMorrow 2pts, Conal Harpin, Mark Donohue, Che Treanor and Enri Shiels.

U16 Boys: Streete Warriors 22pts Blackwater Steelers 36pts

The 16 boys needed this win to stay in Top Four contention and they grinded out a victory which did not look possible after the first quarter. Streete started off strongly and were dominant throughout the first quarter, the Steelers were making no inroads against their zone and our shots weren’t dropping. The defence restricted Streete’s score to 7pts and this was crucial as the Monaghan side had only registered a Sebb basket.

Changes were made in the 2nd with Cameron Liddle and Dylan McKenna coming on, the Steelers pressed and the tide started to shift. Cameron hit a couple of big shots and we were back in the game. The Steelers led by a point at half time.

The Steelers shifted up through the gears in the third led by Karl Gallagher, he drove the Monaghan side on in offence and was a real pain to Streete in the press until fouled off in controversial circumstances. A big shot from Cameron and a three from Ben broke Streete’s resistance and Steelers led by 29pts to 16pts at the end of the quarter. The Steelers closed the game out in the last and won by 36pts to 22pts.

Team & Scorers: Karl Gallagher 11pts, Cameron Liddle 10pts, Ben Ryan 5pts, Sebb Uglis 5pts, Lorcan O Rourke 4pts, Alister Stewart 1pt, Luke Coyle, Kai McCaffrey, Connor McKenna, Dylan McKenna, Ryan Murphy Ieuan Williams.

U12 Girls: Streete Warriors 13pts Blackwater Steelers 18pts

This was very exiting with very little between the teams; the girls won the first by 4, the second by 1, lost the third by 2 but won the last by 5pts to secure the victory.

Team & Scorers; Orla Sherry 4pts, Gormlaith MacConghaille 4pts, Aoibhinn McCormack 4pts, Paula Tymkow 2pts, Katie Trainor 2pts, Kayla Fagan 2pts, Caitriona Gallagher, Shannon Hughes, Leah Lennon, Ellen McDonald, Alice Trainor and Ailbhe Ward.

U18 Boys: Streete Warriors 37pts Blackwater Steelers 92pts

After a long day in this little basketball outpost in Co. Westmeath the final game finally arrived and it was over all bar the shouting after the first quarter. This Steelers 18 boy’s team are enjoying their dominance and were up 39pts to 6pts after the first quarter, they simply blew Streete away like a tornado. The rest of the game followed suit and the boys ran out easy winners by 92pts to 37pts.

Team & Scorers: Andrew O Connor 22pts, Killian McAdam 21pts, Michael O Brien 17pts, Ryan Treanor 11pts, Cormac O Hanlon 9pts, Robert Haynes 7pts, Michael McDonnell 5pts, Shane McKenna, Cian Fitzgerald, Sean Conway, Jason Hamill and Aaron Sherry.

Fixtures Next Weekend

Saturday 25 February 2017     

Sunday 26 February 2017

See our facebook page for updates.

U18 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 95pts Navan Cougars 31pts

The Steeler U 18 Boys were just too strong for their Navan counterparts when they met in Colaiste Oiriall on Saturday lunchtime. Navan failed to field an U 16 team and so that left only one game to be played over the weekend. The lads set about their task with a brisk efficiency and were 28pts to 3pts up after the first, 15 to 6 was the score in the 2nd, 28 to 17 in the third and 24 to 5 in the last, and it really was one way traffic.

Team & Scorers: Killian McAdam 26pts, Andrew O Connor 25pts, Michael O Brien 16pts, Ryan Treanor 11pts, Cian Fitzgerald 8pts, Robert Haynes 5pts, Cormac O Hanlon 2pts, Aaron Sherry 2pts, Jason Hamill Sean Conway and Donal Leonard.

The Steeler U18 boys continued their unbeaten run with two good games this week, one at home and one in Dunshaughlin, the U18 Girls won also but the U12 Girls and an understrength U16 boys went down to the County Meath side.

U18 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 60pts Muckno Lakers 33pts

Muckno Lakers never make it easy, they compete well and here the score line does not quite reflect the competitiveness of the match. The Steelers started well with Killian and Michael the danger men as they took a 13-6 lead. The 2^nd was a Lakers quarter as they edged their way back into the match, baskets from Andrew, Jason & Michael kept the home side in the lead by a mere 4pts.

The Steelers upped their game in the third with strong post play from Michael O Brien and with Killian McAdam moving into top gear in the 4^th they dominated by the end of the contest.

Team & Scorers: Killian McAdam18pts, Michael O Brien 16pts, Andrew O Connor 12pts, Jason Hamill 5pts, Cian Fitzgerald 4pts, Ryan Treanor 3pts, Niall Marron 2pts, Michael McDonnell, Robert Haynes, Shane McKenna, Cormac O Hanlon & Aaron Sherry.

Dunshaughlin Rockets 47pts Blackwater Steelers 53pts

The Rockets had given us a decent game when they visited the Sem so the Steelers were expecting a tough challenge especially with a few missing, and that’s what they got. Despite some close attention with a “box and one” defence Andrew O Connor powered through the Rockets setting up and scoring countless baskets to put the Steelers into a dominant lead 18-11. Dunshaughlin switched to man-to man in the 2^nd and the game became a little closer, the Steelers missed a few easy chances and this give them heart, there was only one point between them in this period. The half time score was 23pts – 31pts.

The Monaghan side built on this lead in the third and for a period they looked like they would dominate the rest of the game but the home side just wouldn’t be blown away and they kept in striking distance. Robert Haynes was good for the Steelers in this period and they led by 11 going into the last. The Steelers were on the back foot in the last as the home side upped their game, the crowd got excited but the league leaders kept their heads, their lead and their unbeaten run going.

Team & Scorers: Andrew O Connor 23pts, Killian McAdam 9pts, Ryan Treanor 7pts, Michael O Brien 7pts, Robert Haynes 4pts, Cormac O Hanlon 2pts, Jason Hamill 1pt, Aaron Sherry, Sean Conway and Donal Leonard.

U18 Girls: Dunshaughlin Rockets 24pts Blackwater Steelers 40pts

Eight u18 girls travelled to Dunshaughlin on Saturday last. It took both teams a while to hit their rhythm; but Amy Mulligan eventually got the scoring going for the Steelers with Alison McBride and Laura Nally creating great spacing for gaps to open up for Amy.  

Questionable calls against the Steelers were beginning to become a problem; with girls being called for fouls which were without doubt not fouls. Morgan McKenna was the first to be effected, being called for two early fouls within the first four minutes, forcing her to sit on the bench for the rest of the quarter. She came back on in the 2^nd quarter and hit two lovely outside jump shots. Amy Mulligan was then next to take a seat on the bench after being allocated three questionable fouls.

Alex Mulligan came in and made an impact, driving hard at the Dunshaughlin defence. However our own defence still wasn’t good enough and it wasn’t helped by dubious referee calls. Moreover Ailbe Rooney came on in this quarter and was hard done by, picking up three fouls in quick succession, which pushed the Steelers over the limit and sent Dunshaughlin to the line for shots regularly.

In the second half the Steelers played better, on offense and on defence. Rachel Gallagher and Natasha Hughes in particular were great defensively, covering a lot of ground. Morgan penetrated and dished off on numerous occasions and Amy made her presence known inside. We ran one of our plays on various occasions and it worked terrifically, resulting in Alex getting in for plenty of layups. This is when the lead opened up, and we finished the game out strong. Final score BWS 40 – 24 Dunshaughlin Rockets.

Team and scorers: Amy Mulligan 13pts, Alex Mulligan 12pts, Morgan McKenna 8pts , Rachel Gallagher 3pts, Alison McBride 2pts, Natasha Hughes 2pts, Laura Nally & Ailbe Rooney.

U12 Girls: Dunshaughlin Rockets 25pts Blackwater Steelers 5pts

The U12 girls fell to their third defeat in a row losing all 4 quarters to a strong Rockets team.

Team & Scorers: K. Trainor 1pts, A. Trainor 2pts, C. Gallagher 2pts, G. MacConghaille 2pts, K. Fagan, L. Lennon, E. McDonald, S. Hughes, P. Tymkow & E. Curran.

U16 Boys: Dunshaughlin Rockets 34pts Blackwater Steelers 25pts

This was a very low scoring game for a 16 boys match; the Steelers certainly wasted more good chances than they scored. Good execution makes the game easy and we did not make this easy for ourselves. A combination of very tight refereeing and a slow start gave the Rockets the early initiative and they led by 11pts to 6 at the end of the 1^st. Our defence was very good in the 2^nd but we only managed a paltry 2pts to the home sides 7pts.

So trailing by 18pts – 11pts, the Steelers pressed and did it brilliantly, but when the chances presented themselves as a result we squandered them, so we threw away the chance to get ourselves back in the game, frustration crept in as team fouls built and Dunshaughlin punished us from the line. The last was even enough and we scored better than the other quarters but we did not damage the home side’s lead and they won by 9pts.

Team & Scorers: Karl Gallagher 10pts, Ben Ryan 10pts, Alister Stewart 3pts, Gavin McPhillips 2pts, Dylan McKenna, Ryan Murphy, Cameron Liddle, Kai McCaffrey, Luke Coyle, Lorcan O Rourke and Sebastian Ostrowski.

Fixtures Saturday 11 February 2017 in COLAISTE OIRIALL

U16 Boys Blackwater Steelers V Navan Cougars 10.30am

U18 Boys Blackwater Steelers V Navan Cougars 11.45am