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EMYVALE

Winning Start

U.12 Girls Blaze 13pts Donagh 30pts.

The Donagh U12 girls were fit and eager for their first game of the season on Sunday last against Blaze Letterkenny, and boy these feisty girls certainly did not disappoint the coaches or spectators.

Out first on court were Amy Mulligan, Megan Ryan, Aisling McAree, Mollie Molloy and Sally Burko. It took the girls a few minutes to settle into the game and a number of easy shots and lay-ups were missed. However outstanding play in this period by Mollie Molloy saw her score her first outside shot. The Donagh girls settled well after this and strong defence by Megan, Amy and Aisling at the top of the zone allowed Donagh to gain possession of the ball from the Letterkenny girls. The next score materialised when Sally rebounded the ball and passed it to Amy who added a further two points in a fast break lay-up. That was a taster for Amy as she continued the game with some strong lay-ups to the baskets that allowed her to dominate the score sheet. Score at the end of this quarter was Donagh 8pts to Blaze 3pts.

The play just got better for the Donagh squad in the second quarter. Out came Alison McBride, Alex Mulligan, Leah Parker, Emily Brennan and Laura Nally. Emily Brennan has only started to play basketball this season and she certainly did not look out of place as she rebounded the ball and was the first to add a score in this quarter. The feisty Leah Parker fought like a Trojan throughout the game. This aggressive defence by all with quick turnover, allowed Donagh continue their fast breaks up the court. Alison and Alex displayed some strong drives to the boards to allow Alison score 4pts and Alex 2pt. Laura Nally was exceptionally strong in rebounding allowing her to add another 2 pts bringing the score 18pts  to 9pts to Donagh.

The third quarter saw Rebecca Ward who was carrying an injury join Aisling Mollie Amy and Alex on the court. This was a great quarter for the Donagh team. The girls really relaxed into their play and we saw the strong defence continue to allow them to dominate the court. Blaze were unable to add any scores in this quarter while the Donagh squad scored 12pts. Mollie’s rebounding skills saw her add 4 pts, while Amy’s ability to drive to the basket added 4 pts, Alison and Sally added 2 pts each to bring the score to 30pts to 9pts.

The last quarter saw the return of Emily, Laura, Megan Leah and Alison to the court. Again the girls played well but were unfortunate in that they could not convert any shots. Final score 30-13to Donagh

Overall this was a very fine performance by this U12 squad and with this being their first game of the season Coaches Delma Mulligan and Emile Mc Kenna only expect greater performances to come from this talented bunch.

Team and Scorers: Amy Mulligan(10pts) Mollie Molloy (6pts),Alison Mc Bride(6pts), Alex Mulligan(2pts),Laura Nally(2pts)Emily Brennan(2pts) Sally Burko (2pts)Megan Ryan,  Leah Parker Aisling McAree Rebecca Ward.