What a day at the National Basketball Arena in Dublin when an army of Kilkenny people descended on Tallaght for a showdown with OLSS Castleblayney from Monaghan in the Under 19 A Schools Cup Final. The first quarter was an edgy affair with both teams showing some early nerves and scores were hard to come by. Aoibhin Dunphy and the games MVP Gemma Lawlor gave the Pres a 7 v 2 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The girls unbelievable defence which has become a trademark of this team really stifled the opposition as Lawlor and Dunphy kept the scoreboard ticking over to give the Kilkenny girls a 13 point cushion with the score at 21 v 8 at the half. The sound was deafening at Basketball Ireland HQ with bus loads of supporters from Kilkenny and Monaghan singing and urging their teams on.

The third quarter saw OLSS Castleblayney push to get back in the game but this task was made extremely difficult with the defensive intensity that Kaitlyn Summers and Clodagh O'Neill brought to the game and the rebounding prowess of Aoibhin Dunphy limited the opponents to single shot offences. Gemma Lawlor was still on fire and hit 9 of her 21 points in this quarter.

The Pres Girls had a comfortable 16 point lead going into the final quarter but the Monaghan Girls put in a strong fourth quarter performance to make the last couple of minutes very tense. Aoibh Lawlor, Valerija Dovbijenko and Clodagh O'Neill chipped in on both ends of the floor for the Kilkenny Girls, Kaitlyn Summers was an immense presence on the court and Aoibhin Dunphy put in a huge performance for her team. With the game in the balance the MVP Gemma Lawlor stepped up and hit a dagger three pointer from the corner to put the game out of sight and the All Ireland trophy making it's way to Kilkenny.

As a club we are so proud of all of our players who have put in so much work over the years to build to this point and their efforts have been duly rewarded. A special mention also to our Director of Coaching Puff Summers who led his team to glory with Assistant Coach from Marble City Hawks Sally Teehan ever present.

Congratulations, you are now officially the best Under 19 Girls Schools Team in the Country!!