Super 20s cruise into the second round!
An extremely well-rounded perfomance from the U20’s lead to a first round win in Malahide in the U20 National Cup!
Final Score: U20’s 88-66 Malahide
Half-time score: U20’s 52-34 Malahide
Player of the game: Elijah Faapito
Top Scorers: Elijah Faapito 18, Moustapha Kourouma 17, Ethan Farrelly 16, Sam Badejo 12, Brian Curran 9
With captain Ale Biffi out with an injury, it was Ethan Farrelly and Elijah Faapito who stepped up to be the vocal leaders the U20’s needed going into this first round matchup of the National Cup. It was Farrelly himself who scored the first basket of the game with a nice corner 3 received from a nice pass from Faapito. As usual, the one-two punch of Sam Badejo and Moustapha Kourouma was unstoppable, the two lads owned the paint , getting numerous blocks , rebounds and drives to the basket. Their athleticism and wingspans remain unmatched. Faapito used his strength a number of times to bully his away into the paint for a few easy layups. Despite this Malahide with some hot shooting kept themselves in the game, after the 1st quarter, Tolka led 21-16.
Coming straight from a taxi, Brian Curran was subbed into the game and began dominating. Malahide had no answer to his unorthodox methods and sheer size, strength and athleticism. Curran had 9 points in the quarter . O'Brien's energy off the bench created a lot of momentum, which helped Tolka pull away into a double digit lead half way through the 2nd quarter. Defensively the lads locked-in completely which led to many easy steals and fast breaks. At half-time Tolka was up 18.
Tolka started off strong in the second-half, going on a nice run to bring the lead to 25 points. Kourouma made it rain from downtown with 11 points in the quarter. With a few minutes left, Faapito took over the game. He was the offensive engine, getting to any spot he wanted, leading to easy buckets for himself or dropping dimes for his teammates for easy finishes. As always, Matthew Conlon was in the right spots and the right time, ready to pick on some drop-off passes to deliver his signature “reverse layup” a few times. Curran was able to provide a masterful assist with a superman jump to feed Badejo for a floater. Farrelly had a nice ankle-breaker with a nasty jab and his jump-shot sealed the game for the boys. The cherry on the cake was Eoghan Dawson’s (Now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) skyhook after penetrating Malahide’s defence with a silky crossover.
Despite an amazing performance, today the lads had numerous “Shaqtin-a-fool” moments. Kai Reilly was in a mood of giving away early Christmas presents today, giving “and one’s” to whoever. Faapito strengthened his “Shaqtin MVP” case after airballing a layup while Badejo entered the Shaqtin MVP race today after his beautiful airballed 3. Shoutout to coach Kevin Ashton who wasn’t able to read the scoreboard properly today, blaming the “lighting”. Unfortunately , age is getting to him! Hopefully Specsavers sorts him out!!
The U20’s now face Kubs in the last 16, this game will be played in November. This Wednesday we turn our attention back to the Dublin League as we face BC Tauras in Tolka at 20.50 which is our home opener! Make sure to come down and support the lads!
