6 Blackwater Steeler teams travelled the short distance to Castleblayney at the weekend to play Muckno Lakers and only two; the U 14 & 16 Boys came away with victory. Lakers have remained a strong club mainly due to the coaching work done by Gerry Smyth over the years and more recently by others as well, they turn out strong competitive juvenile teams year after year.

U12 Boys: Muckno Lakers 22pts Blackwater Steelers 14pts

The Steeler lads built up a good lead in the first but lost it in the 2nd and once the Muckno boys got ahead they never gave up their lead.

U16 Girls: Muckno Lakers 38pts Blackwater Steelers 15pts

The Steeler girls got caught out in the 1st quarter by the Laker 1-3-1 defence which they found hard to break down. They played better in the remaining quarters but could not convert the chances they created.

Team & Scorers: HannahTurley, Eimear Mc McColgan, Ava Ross 2 pts, Rachel Callery 3pts, Amy Deery 6pts, Mariea Boley 2 pts, Anna Rabella 2pts, Brid Mc Nally and Niamh O Connell.

U12 Girls: Muckno Lakers 30pts Blackwater Steelers 18pts

Lakers started with all guns blazing and strode into a 12 nil lead. The 2nd quarter was even at 6pts each but Muckno made the points certain with a 10pts to no score in the third. The Steelers showed what they could do in the last with 12pts to 2 scoreline which is encouraging.

Team & Scorers: D. Cawley 6pts, A. Trainor, L. Lennon, S. Healy 8pts, C. O Neill, A. Bogue 2pts, C. Nally, D. Marron, A. McCormack 2pts, K. Fagan and S. O Donnell.

U14 Girls: Muckno Lakers 54pts Muckno Lakers 17pts

The Lakers ruled this game from the start with an aggressive approach that knocked the Steelers out of their stride. They led from start to finish leaving loads for the Steelers to work on at training.

Team and Scorers: Rachel Callery 7pts, Cathy McKenna 4pts, Katie Trainor 4pts,
Amelia Deery 2pts, Bernice John, Gormlaith MacConghaille, Elle Curran, Erica McDonald, Alex Carlisle, Aoife McSkeane and Rachel Lennon.

U14 Boys: Muckno Lakers 24pts Blackwater Steelers 31pts

The Steeler lads were ready for the tough challenge these Muckno Laker boys would provide and they just came out on top in a very good game. Both sides started well with the Steelers just shading the first with all the scores coming from J. Carey for the home side and Jamie Krisiulevicius for the Steelers, one a sweet 3. The Lakers reversed this in the 2nd to take a 16pts to 12pts lead but it wasn’t for the want of trying by the Steeler lads.

Super defending added to some great team scores won the game for the Steelers. Baskets from Luke, Jamie and Lucas left Steelers a point ahead by the 4th. The 4th was even better as Conal got in on the scoring and the Steelers secured the game. Jamie Krisiulevicius deserves a special word as his absolute control in the face of adversity was superb.

Team & Scorers: Jamie Krisiulevicius 15pts, Luke Cawley 4pts, Lucas Krisciunas 4pts, Conal Harpin 4pts, Enri Shiels 2pts, Michael McMorrow 2pts, Dylan McPhillips, Mark Donohue, G. Treanor, Sean S. Kelly and Donnacha O Hanlon.

U16 Boys: Muckno Lakers 18pts Blackwater Steelers 49pts

The Steeler U 16 boys were in real good form on Sunday, they were fast accurate and clinical as they brushed aside the Lakers challenge. The defending was superb and this led to loads of fast breaks and with Ben Ryan in super finishing mode the Steelers took the first by 14pts to 5pts. The 2nd was won by 10 to 1pt and in similar fashion, but the defence of Liam Conway, Liam McKenna, Alister Stewart and Rio Corrigan deserves special praise, as it was their work that earned the scores.

All 12 players contributed to this win and the teamwork was encouraging and with this attitude and drive they are a formidable team.

Team and Scorers: Ben Ryan 21pts, Alister Stewart 15pts, Rio Corrigan 6pts, Liam McKenna 2pts,  Liam McKenna 2pts, Kasper Ostrowski 2pts, Ryan Murphy 1pt, Kelvin Hackett, Tiarnan O Rourke, Finn Slater, Conor Mulligan and Matthew Curley.

AGM

The Blackwater Steelers will hold their AGM at 8pm on Tuesday October 24 2017 in St. Joseph’s Pastoral Centre, Broad Rd, Monaghan. All welcome.

The Annual General Meeting of Blackwater Steelers Basketball Club will be held at 8pm on Tuesday 24^th October 2017 in St. Joseph’s Pastoral Centre, Broad Road, Monaghan (next to Dunnes Stores car park).

All parents of club members are invited to attend.

With 6 matches scheduled with Dundalk Ravens over the weekend past in St Macartans the Blackwater Steelers just shaded the win percentage and it took two forfeits in the U 12 age group to tip the balance.

U12 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 20pts Dundalk Ravens 26pts

Ravens only travelled with 7 players so the 10 player rule came into play, this states that every team up to the U 16 level must have 10 players team. So despite the scoreline the Steelers won the points. The game was very close although the 2nd and 4th quarter scoreline were one sided in favour of the Ravens.

Team & Scorers: S. Healy 4pts, S. O Donnell, E. McGinnity, K. Fagan, A. Bogue 6pts, A. McCormack 9pts, N. McQuaid, L. Lennon, C. O’Neil, D. Marron, A. Trainor and C. Nally 1pt.

U18 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 81pts Dundalk Ravens 50pts

The scoreline probably doesn’t do justice to the Ravens and the stubborn defence they put up throughout the match. It was the end of the first before the home side stretched ahead with 6 in a row from Andrew O Connor. The 2nd quarter was closer but the Steelers stayed ahead and uncharacteristic errors littered the half, Kai McCaffrey played well when he came on and the Steelers led by 12pts.  Killian and Andrew upped their games in the third and put the game to bed and everyone got court time before the buzzer went. The U 18 Steelers have yet to hit top form but have 2 wins to their credit.

Team & Scorers: Andrew O Connor 38pts, Killian McAdam 14pts, Sebb Uglis 8pts, Cian Fitzgerald 7pts, Michael McDonnell 5pts, Ryan Treanor 5pts, Kai McCaffrey 4pts, Sean Conway, Robert Haynes, Jason Hamill, Sebb Ostrowski and Lorcan O Rourke.

U14 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 88pts Dundalk Ravens 5pts

This was a complete wipe out, Dundalk were no match and even with loads of Steeler rotation they couldn’t help but put up scores.

Team and Scorers: Rachel Callery – 28,Holly McQuaid – 24,Katie Trainor – 8, Aine McQuaid – 8,Erica McDonald – 6,Cathy McKinney 4, Amelia Deery – 4, Alex Carlisle -Rachel Lennon – 2, Aoibhinn McGinnity – 2, Gormlaith Mac Conghail and Ellen McDonald

U16 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 42pts Dundalk Ravens 60pts

If you have a 6ft 7inch U15 on your team you have a distinct advantage and Dundalk did, they also have a good point guard and some other nice shooters. They went 23pts to 13pts in the first quarter as we tried to figure out how to play against him.  Dundalk won the 2nd and the 3rd as we struggled to deal with their power and physicality and as they eased off a little in the last the Steelers scored more easily. I would predict we have just played the League Winners for the coming season.

Team and Scorers: Cameron Liddle 13pts, Liam Conway 8pts, Alister Stewart 7pts, Ben Ryan 6pts, Matthew Curley 4pts, Rio Corrigan 2pts, Kasper Ostrowski 2pts, Liam McKenna, Che Treanor, Tiarnan O Rourke, Conor Mulligan and Jamie Lopez.

U12 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 16pts Dundalk Ravens 38pts

Dundalk Ravens were just too strong for our U 12 boys on Sunday morning but once again they only travelled with 9 players and had to forfeit the game. So the Steeler boys are sitting with 9pts from a possible 9pts in the League. The game itself was one sided with the Dundalk lads just over powering the Steeler lads through their sheer size and power, they looked older than they were.

Team & Scorers: S. McSkeane 4pts, E. McCaffrey 2pts, E. Augustinavicius, P. Mulligan 2pts, D. McGinnity, L. Swift, A. Stewart 2pts, P. Murphy 1pt, D. Mulligan, R. Conway 1pt, R. O Dhufaigh 4pts and D. Aughey

U14 Blackwater Rapids 23pts Dundalk Ravens 51pts

This was men against boys, Dundalk are really too strong for this league and really should be in the A’s. Having said that the Steelers were committed and brave and pushed these bigger boys all the way. There are a lot of positives to be taken from this gutsy performance and the boys will learn from this.

Team & Scorers: D. Conlon 3pts, R. McArdle, S. Swift, F. Gallagher 5pts, A. Elsayed, C. Murphy 9pts, M. McVicar, R. McMahon, S. Metcalfe, J. Curley and Andrew Walsh 6pts.

Blackwater Steelers had a very successful weekend against Dunshaughlin Rockets winning all 8 games against the Co. Meath opposition. The Rockets would be considered one of the better clubs in the NEBB so to win all 8 games is an excellent return.

Saturday

U12 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 12pts Dunshaughlin Rockets 10pts

This was the first outing for the U 12 girls and they had a rollercoaster ride, up by 3 in the first quarter, down by 8 in the 2nd, scored 8pts in the 3rd and only went down by one in the last. This gave them a two point win.

Team: S. Healy 2pts, E. McGinnity, K. Fagan, A. Bogue 5pts, A. McCormack 4pts, N. McQuaid, L. Lennon, C. O Neil 1pt, D. Marron, A. Trainor and C. Nally.

U14 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 54pts Dunshaughlin Rockets 20pts

This was a very one sided easy victory for the Steelers, they started off well and never looked back scoring heavily on the way to the points.

Team: R. Callery 24pts, K. Trainor 4pts, G. Mac Conghail, E. Curran 2pts, C. McKenna 12pts, E. McDonald 4pts, A. McQuaid 4pts, A. Darcy, Ellen McDonald, A. McGinnity 2pts, A. Carlisle 2pts and A. McSkeane.

U16 Girls: Blackwater Steelers 25pts Dunshaughlin Rockets 22pts

This was a tight affair, the Rockets won the first but the Steeler girls woke up in the 2nd and clawed it back and then just edged out the win by 3pts.

Team: K. Deery 2pts, H. Turley, A. Ross 4pts, N. O Connell 8pts, A. McKenna 2pts, E. McColgan, A. Deery 7pts, D. Gallagher, Mariea and Anna 2pts.

U18 Girls:  Blackwater Steelers 58pts Dunshaughlin Rockets 39pts

This was a strong comprehensive performance from the 18 girls to notch up the 2nd win of the new season.

Team: M. McKenna 26pts, A. Mulligan 23pts, L. O Mairtin 3pts, A. McBride, A. Ross, A. Deery 5pts and D. Gallagher 1pt

Sunday

U12 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 23pts Dunshaughlin Rockets 12pts

The boys got off to a great start winning the first by 5pts to no score, the 2nd finished all square but the Steeler lads destroyed them by 14pts in the 3rd to secure the game. The Rockets played a little better in the last before the long journey home.

Team: A.McElvaney 2pts, S.McSkeane, E. Augustinavicius 3pts, J. Wright 2pts, A. Stewart 4pts, D. McGinnity, L. Swift, P. Murphy 2pts, R. O Dufaigh 6pts, R. Conway 4pts & E. McCaffrey.

U14 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 51pts Dunshaughlin Rockets 32pts

he Steeler boys won well in the end by almost 19pts but they struggled to get going in large parts of the game. They won the first by 9pts to 4pts but lost the 2nd by 5 to 11and it was only when the defence got a lot tighter that we took command of the game and scored freely to secure the points.

Team: Conal Harpin 6pts, Mark Donohue 2pts, Luke Cawley 6pts, Jamie Krisiulevicius 28pts, Michael McMorrow 1pt, Dylan McPhillips 2pts, Donnacha O Hanlon, Gary Treanor, Lucas Krisaunas 4pts, Enri Shiels 2pts, and Sean Kelly.

U16 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 51pts Dunshaughlin Rockets 16pts

This was a mismatch really with the Steelers far too strong for the opposition, having said that though the Steeler boys played extremely well especially in the first. The home side won all 4 quarters for their 2nd win of the season.

Team: L. McKenna 2pts, R. Murphy 4pts, K. Hackett 4pts, C. Liddle 10pts, R. Corrigan 4pts, T. O Rourke 2pts, K. Ostrowski 4pts, B. Ryan 10pts, C. Mulligan, L. Conway 2pts, A. Stewart 5pts, M. Curley 2pts.

U18 Boys: Blackwater Steelers 63pts Dunshaughlin Rockets 58pts

This was the game of the day, strong raucous opposition who were determined to get the win against a cool confident Steelers riding on the highs of last season. The game was brilliant for the spectators with the home team starting well and the Rockets staying in touch with some big threes. They were also quite physical deliberately targeting some of the Steelers’ players for attention, the Steelers led by 3 after the first. The second remained tight too, Ryan Treanor did a great job on their 8, Rob Haynes came in and made a difference and Andrew O Connor and Killian McAdam kept the scoreboard ticking over but we only lewd by 28pts to 23pts at the break.

The Steelers pressed in the 3rd,  stole the momentum and went further ahead with two deep threes from Andrew, however they kept in touch with a couple of their own. The Steelers led by 9pts going into the 4th but the Rockets didn’t wilt and came back strong. This was a high scoring quarter with neither defence doing what they should and the Meath side came close but the marginally better Steelers side won out in the end.

Team: C. Fitzgerald 4pts, R. Treanor 9pts, R. Haynes 6pts, C. McKenna, K. McCaffrey, L. O Rourke 2pts, S. Uglis, D. McKenna, A. O Connor 29pts, M. McDonnell, K. McAdam 13pts & J. Hamill.

Thanks

Blackwater Steelers Basketball Club would like to express huge thanks to Olê from Subway Monaghan who delivered the Classic Platters and the Golden Vouchers to our U 14 & U 16 Girls (see picture). Our club was delighted with the very generous donation and we would also like to thank U 18 star Michael McDonnell for helping to organise the above.

The Steelers were on the road with 4 teams on Sunday last for their first fixtures of the 2017-18 NEBB season when they travelled to Ashbourne to play Tara Druids. It was a very successful day with all 4 teams gaining victories.

U12 Boys: Tara Druids 12 Blackwater Steelers 25

This was a great start to the season for the boys most of whom had never played team ball before. They took a strong lead from the start and never looked back and really dominated the whole game. There were some fine performances among the boys and this will be very heartening for the new coaches.

U14 B Boys: Tara Druids 22 Blackwater Steelers 35

Again there were a lot of lads making their debut for the Steelers in this team and they gave a great account of themselves and getting the “W” in the process. They took an 8 to 4 lead in the first, lost the 2nd by a point but blew the opposition away in the third stretching the lead out to 35pts to 22pts. The boys were outscored in the last but the win was secure. This was a very encouraging display.

U16 Boys: Tara Druids 17 Blackwater Steelers 38

The two U 16 lads from last year Cameron Liddle and Alister Stewart really showed their experience and drove the Steelers to victory in this game. Of course they were ably supported by 7 U 14s from last year and 2 new players. After a shaky first quarter when we trailed by a point the Steelers settled and built up a good lead in the 2nd. Scores dried up a little in the remaining two quarters but the Steelers had the points in the bag.

There will be tougher test ahead for this group but this was a great start.

U18 Girls: Tara Druids 22 Blackwater Steelers 50

The Steelers set about their business in a very clinical efficient way building up a 14pts to 2pts lead and taking all the momentum out of the opposition squad before they knew they were in a game. The Steelers defence was tight, aggressive and miserly and this gave the team the foundation to win easily. A 24pt tally for the excellent Amy Mulligan also helped. Again this was a really encouraging start for the team.

Fixtures

Blackwater Steelers entertain 10 Dunshaughlin Rockets teams over the 2 days this coming weekend. Action starts at 11am on Saturday in St. Macartans College.

The Blackwater Steelers Basketball Club is back preparing for the new NEBB season of 2017-18.  Come the beginning of September as the days gets shorter and the school bags are retrieved, the Steelers are getting back into the swing of trials and training, in fact some have already started. Fear not though, there is still time to try out.  As it stands the trials/training schedule is listed below but that may change as the weeks go on.  If interested but unsure about anything please contact Delma Mulligan (087 9299519) Bronagh Hamill (087 2068285) or Tom O Connor (086 1715808) or keep an eye on the Blackwater Steelers facebook page.

The club had a very successful season in the NEBB last year and we picked up two All Ireland titles. The U14 Boys were NEBB League & Cup Winners and then went on to win an All Ireland title; the U16 Girls won an All Ireland beating near neighbours Muckno Lakers in an all Monaghan final. The U18 Boys won the Nebb League & Cup double staying unbeaten from start to finish and the U18 Girls won the NEBB league too.  We also had a club member Alex Mulligan play for Ireland in the U16 Women’s European Championships.  All in all we must be doing something right so come and join us and see what it’s all about.

REGISTRATION NIGHTS

The Club will hold 2 registration nights in St. Macartans College Sports Hall; the first one will be on Thursday 14^th September from 6.30-8.30pm and the second will be on Friday 15^th September from 7-8.30pm.  Parents and player must sign the forms.  See our website www.blackwatersteelers.ie for more details.  Every player must be registered before they can play any games.

ANNUAL STREET COLLECTION

Please keep free Thursday 21^st September and Friday 22^nd September for our annual street collection. The more help we get the easier it will be for everyone, a rota will be worked out.

SEASON START

The first fixtures for most teams will be Saturday 23^rd September or Sunday 24^th September but they are not finalised yet.

Our annual street collection will take place this year on the 21st and 22nd September.  If you are available please contact Sonia on 086-2070061.

Blackwater Steelers wish a massive good luck to our U 16 Girl Alex Mulligan who flies out today Tuesday to Skopje, Macedonia to play for Ireland in the FIBA U 16 Women’s European Championship Div B. This is a brilliant achievement for this young Glaslough lady to get to represent her country at this level. The Steelers also have another connection with this Ireland squad in our U 18 Coach, Kelly McCabe who is Team Manager, and we at the club wish her the very best of luck in this responsible role.

Skopje is the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, in the centre of the Balkan Peninsula in Southern Europe and it will be the base for all the games. There are 22 countries competing, two groups of 5 and two groups of 6. Alex and Ireland are drawn in Group B with the hosts Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, Ukraine, and Moldova. The group stage will consist of 5 games and depending on the results they could play another 2 or 3 classification games. So 7 or 8 games in little over 10 days will be a tough ask. However after the Ireland U 18 Women reached the European Final in Dublin last week everyone in the camp should be buoyed by what can be achieved.

Alex Mulligan started with the Blackwater Steelers aged 8 with our junior academy and by the time she was on the U 12’s team she was already attracting attention. She is a strong; powerful inside player who as time has gone on developed a deft level of skill. Alex has been a winner all the way up leading her team to many League & Cup wins both in BNI and North East Leagues. She also has had successes playing for her school, St. Louis Convent, Monaghan, represented the North East Schools Region and from this was picked for the Ireland Squad. Over 18 months that squad has been whittled down to 12 girls and now they will stand on the line for Ireland and Alex is a very strong part of that team. It would be remiss of me not to mention her parents Delma and Richard Mulligan, I’m sure they are very proud and so they should be, Delma is one of the senior coaches at Blackwater Steelers from the very start and has worked tirelessly to promote basketball and the club. We at the Steelers are so very proud of Alex, and hope she has a wonderful tournament.

Kelly McCabe has been a coach with the Blackwater Steelers from the 2012-13 season and has won numerous cups and titles, she also plays for Muckno Lakers and has won National Titles with them. Kelly is basketball through and through; she has an inquisitive nature, always eager to learn and a strong will to win. The Team Manager role with a young Ireland team is not an easy job but Kelly is more than up to the task, in fact in a few years to come I could see her coaching an Ireland team. Again we at Blackwater Steelers are very proud of you and we wish you Good Luck at the Euro’s.

The Blackwater Steelers Basketball Club was founded in 2008 and in the 9 years since has gone from strength to strength. For a small junior club based in an area that would not be renowned for basketball it’s a remarkable achievement to have had two full Irish Internationals. Alex is the second club member to represent Ireland at a European Championship; she follows Verity O Connor who played for Ireland in 2014, 2015 and 2016. We have also have had several players who have made the Ireland Development Squads and have been capped but may have just missed out on the final 12.This is a tremendous testament to the excellent coaching and hard work going on at the club right from junior academy up. Well Done Steelers!!