U16 Boys T1

Coaches: Dave Leahy & Paul O’Connor

Team Manager: Cathy Williams

Team Sponsor: Weathermaster Kerry Limited

Kerry Airport U16 Boys Div 1

24/03/22 County League

St. Mary's 56-46 Tralee Imperials

We travelled to Castleisland to play our final game of the season against St Mary’s.  

We started the game with great tempo and thanks to some great team defense and transition we jumped into an early lead and led at the end of the first quarter 10-15.

We kept up the same effort and intensity in the second period and managed to extend our lead to 20-30 by halftime.

Castleisland’s size and experience was obvious in the third quarter and with our lads tiring we struggled to keep our lead. We got a few crucial scores near the end of the third to head in to the final quarter trailing by one point 39-38.

The final quarter saw an exciting see saw battle where both teams traded leads on numerous occasions and with 2 minutes left we were just 2 points behind.  A couple of bounces didn’t go our way and we had to send our opponents to the foul line to try to salvage the win. Unfortunately for us they were flawless from the foul line and we ended up on the losing  side 56-46.

We put up a fantastic fight and with three players unavailable we traveled with just 6 u16 players and Ruairi from the U14 team.

It has been a tough season with injuries and sickness but the boys have improved immensely and we look forward to continuing our progress next season.

Scorers

Jamie Burke 14

Ryne Ybanez 11

Sean Og Brosnan 11

Tomas Kennedy 10

14/03/22 County League

Tralee Imperials 61-47 Rathmore Ravens

On Monday evening our u16 Team 1 played Rathmore in Division 1 of the county league. We started the game with great pace and intensity and our press created a lot of easy transition baskets. With Tomas and Sean Og contributing hugely to the scoreboard we led at the end of the first quarter 31-7.

We were able to get all our players a lot of game time in the second period and with Sean Heaslip and William working hard on the defensive end we went in to the halftime break ahead 44-25.

This lead gave us an opportunity to work on different aspects of our game and we managed to extend our lead to 55-33 to finish the third.

Jamie and Tadgh worked well together in the final quarter and it was great to see Ryne get some court time after his injury. Ruairi from our U14 team got some valuable minutes and acquitted himself well. The game finished 61-47 and we now go in to our final league game with some momentum after back to back wins.

Scorers were:

Tomas Kennedy 22

Sean Og Brosnan 19

Jamie Burke 6

Sean Heaslip 4

Tadgh Moran 4

Ryne Ybanez 3

William O Donoghue 3

06/03/22 County League

Rathmore 45-66 Tralee Imperials

On Sunday 6th March we travelled to Rathmore for our fourth county league game. Due to injuries we were again short handed and only had five u16 players available. We were delighted to have Ruairi and Conor join us from the U14 team and they proved crucial in giving the boys some rest during the game.

We started the game very well and jumped out to an early lead with Sean Og and Tomas prominent in the first quarter. Rathmore made a comeback towards the end but we went in to the first break ahead 23-28.

William and Sean Heaslip stepped up the defense in the second quarter and with strong rebounding from Tadgh we extended our lead but with tiredness creeping in we allowed Rathmore to end the half level at 33 points apiece.

Ruairi and Conor from the U14s team were very solid in this quarter and this allowed us to rest some of our starters.

We stepped up our defense even more in the second half and only conceded 12 points in the whole half. Our fast break game was outstanding and we created a lead early in the third that we never relinquished. We led 52-41 at the end of the third quarter and saw out the game in the fourth to win 66-45. Conor got a great block near the end and Ruairi hit a jump shot to cap off a great team performance.

The boys gained great experience which will stand to them in the future.

Top scorers were:

Tomas 25

Sean Og 16

William 14

Sean H 5

Tadgh 4

Ruairi 2

21/02/22 County League

Tralee Imperials 42-56 St. Brendan’s

Our u16s took on St Brendan‘s Monday night in Div 1 of the county league.

Our defense was very effective in the first quarter and behind some fine shooting from Jamie and Tadgh we ended the period tied at 10-10. The second quarter was again a cagey affair with both defenses coming out on top. We were missing three of our usual starting five and this along with tiredness started to show in the third. We fell behind by 18 at one point but pulled it back a little to end the period down 13. 29-42.

The boys put every ounce of effort in to the start of the fourth and closed the gap to 8 but Brendans settled and the final score was 42-56.

All the boys can be very proud of themselves and the gametime experience will stand them in good stead in the long term.

Scorers:

Jamie Burke 14

Tadgh Moran 7

Sean Heaslip 7

Fionnan Ryan 6

Sam Fitzgerald 5

William O Donoghue 3

6/12/21 County League

Tralee Imperials 44-51 St. Mary’s

On Monday evening we hosted a very strong St Mary’s u16 team in our second county league game. In the first quarter our tenacious defense kept us in the game and with four players sharing the scoring we ended the first quarter down 10-14.

The pace increased in the second quarter and both teams hit some great scores. Ryne hit two ‘3s’ along with a few layups to help us go into halftime down just 4 points: 27-31.

Castleisland came out with serious intensity to start the third quarter and it was to the boys credit that we stayed in the game. They showed great character and desire especially on defense with Sam and Sean Heaslip working their socks off, and Sean Óg rebounding strongly, we ended the quarter still only 4 points down 36-40. Tomas started to find his scoring touch at this point and hit a ‘3’ to end a fabulous move. Fionnán was moving the ball very well and with Jamie and Tadgh making vital contributions we entered the fourth quarter with all to play for.

The final period was a tight affair and we had opportunities to take control but couldn’t capitalise on them. With just over a minute to go we were down just 2 points but a turnover led to a layup for the visitors. We had to foul to stop the clock near the end and with Mary’s making their free throws the final scoreline read 44-51. This was a very tight game which could have gone either way. We will learn from this and improve because of it.

Well done to the boys who went toe to toe with the reigning county league champions and just came up short.

Top scorers:

Ryne Ybanez 17

Tomás Kennedy 11

Fionnán Ryan 6

30/11/21 County League

St. Brendan’s 52-45 Tralee Imperials

In our first outing in almost two years our u16 A Team  put up a brave performance away to  local rivals St Brendans.  We started well with Ryne’s 3 point shooting and Sean Óg getting to the basket we opened up a 9 point lead 8-17 by the end of the first quarter.

We struggled to find our rhythm in the second period and allowed Brendans to take control. With Tomas and Fionnan hitting some fine scores we held on to a narrow lead at half time 24-26.

William and Sam came into the game and contributed to an improved defensive effort in the third but we were unlucky with a lot of efforts just not falling into the basket for us. The game was then  finely poised heading into the final period as we trailed 37-36.

At this point our lack of match practice led to some uncharacteristic mistakes which our opponents capitalised on. The boys fought gamely to the end but we just couldn’t close the gap. The game finished 52-45 to the hosts.

We will learn from the defeat and prepare for a tough second game against St Marys on 6th December at home. Well done to the players who gave 100% and can be very proud of themselves.