Castleknock Community College fields teams that compete in the eastern region of The Basketball Ireland Post Primary Schools League. We enter teams into the Senior (under-19), Cadete (under-16), Minor (2nd years), and Junior (1st years) competitions. Each team competes against various secondary schools in the Eastern Region. This year the teams competed against Loreto Dalkey, Loreto St. Stephen’s Green, Colaiste Chiarain (Leixlip), St. Joseph of Cluny, and Holy Family Newbridge. At the end of each team’s league schedule they will compete in The Dublin (Eastern Regional) Playoff if they qualify. If the team reaches the final of that playoff they advance to The All-Ireland Schools League Cup.
This year our Senior and Cadette teams reached the Dublin Playoff’s while the Minor and Junior teams barely failed to make the playoff.
The Minor and Junior teams were mainly composed of beginners or players with 1 year of basketball experience. Their improvement and progress with their individual skills as well as their team development has been at a high level. Much of this improvement is due to the hard work of their coach, Fiona Clancy, who has brought them along with much time and enthusiasm. We were lucky to have 2 senior students, Georgina Duffy and Aisling Tully who mentored a “B” team in each of these age groups. These teams gained invaluable experience and skill sets both individually and as teams.
Our Cadette Team, coached by Fiona Clancy had a very successful season. Their enthusiasm and sense of joy for the game were clearly observed as they achieved a place in The Dublin Playoffs. They were barely beaten by St. Joseph of Cluny in the semi-final. This team should be proud of their achievements this season.
Our Senior Team had a very successful season. The team finished in 1st place in The Dublin League and progressed to The Dublin Playoff where they were edged out by St. Joseph Cluny in the Championship game. In advancing to The All-Ireland Schools League Cup they travelled to Dingle for the Quarter Final Pool. Here they were beaten by 5 points by the eventual winners of the pool.
Our Senior Team also entered The All Ireland Schools Cup. Here the team beat teams from various areas of the country to reach The Final Four National Semi-Final which was held at The University of Limerick. The team fought a very tough Presentation Ballyphenane team from Cork but lost the national semi-final. After the game they were awarded 3rd place national medals. This team, coached by Ron Antoniotti, looks forward to next year as the team will lose only 2 players from this year’s team.
Congratulations to Whitney Moia, a member of our Senior Team, who has progressed to the final stages of try-outs for The Irish National Under-17 Team.
