TOLKA U20 CUP MAGIC!
Two wins in two days send the U20’s flying into the next rounds of the Dublin Cup and National cup!
Game 1:
Tolka U20 61-49 St.Vincent’s(2) - Dublin Cup 1st Round (Tuesday 22/11)
Top Scorers: D.Callaly 12, B.Curran 12, S.Badejo 11
Starting five: J.Giltenane, N.Bartley, M.Kourouma, S.Badejo, B.Curran
An aggressive Moustapha Kourouma and Sam Badejo early on saw Tolka take an early lead. Brian Curran dominated inside as usual, getting countless blocks and rebounds. He displayed his improved post work , when he received the ball on the block and lost his defender with a beautiful spin move. The highlight of the game was most certainly Sam Badejo’s poster dunk on the fast-break. Badejo’s freakish athleticism was in full-show as he rose above his defender and dunked the ball emphatically. Joseph Giltenane had a nice game running the point, making some nice passes all game and even scoring 4 points including a nice jump-shot from the key after leaving his defender in the dust with a smooth pump-fake. Dakota Callaly was an absolute bucket, shooting the lights out from the midrange. Every single time he received the ball on the wing, everyone on the bench knew already that a swish was incoming. We hope his girlfriend continues to come to the games if he’s going to keep playing like this!
In the second-half Tolka pulled away thanks to Badejo’s and Kourouma’s hot three-point shooting. Kevin Corr was absolute money tonight from the midrange, scoring all 8 of his points from just outside the paint. Matthew Conlon had a great game underneath the basket, crashing the boards and hustling all over the court. It was great to see James Castro rewarding the hard-working big man when he fed him with a nice bounce pass for a smooth jump shot from the corner. Tadhg Sanchez had an amazing block, while Aidan Geraghty, James Castro , Kai Reilly played absolutely unselfishly tonight, constantly looking to find open teammates. Niall Bartley finished the game off for Tolka with a nice jump-shot that hit nothing but net!
Game 2:
Tolka U20 77-60 KUBS - National Cup 2nd Round (Wednesday 23/11)
Top Scorers: E.Faapito 20, M.Kourouma 18, E.Farrelly 17
Starting Five: A.Biffi, E. Farrelly, E. Faapito, M. Kourouma, S.Badejo
A completely different roster on Wednesday saw Ethan Farrelly, Ale Biffi, and Elijah Faapito back into the starting lineup. Faapito put Tolka’s first points on the board after finishing with his left-hand on the fast break after a pass from Biffi. It was a “deja-vu” moment later in the quarter, when Biffi found Faapito with a bounce pass for another left-hand finish. Kourouma continued his aggressiveness from Tuesday as he attacked the basket constantly from some tough finishes at the rim while also splashing some 3-pointers. The first quarter ended with Farrelly knocking down a 3-pointer from the corner.
The second quarter started with Niall Bartley swishing a midrange shot off-dribble. Brian Curran was a monster once again , constantly getting offensive rebounds and finishing underneath the basket. He’s raw athleticism makes him unstoppable inside. At the half Tolka led by 9.
The second half was an absolute block party for Tolka. Kourouma, Curran and Farrelly all had terrific blocks that sent the ball flying into the stands. Tolka’s bench were left speechless each time. Kourouma continued to make it rain from deep while Farrelly relentlessly attacked the basket for some smooth finishes at the rim. Praise Ogunsakin made some excellent passes while Faapito used his pure strength to bully his defenders down-low for some nice finishes from inside. Some nice unselfish basketball from Tolka saw captain Ale Biffi find Faapito on a cut to the cut for an easy finish. Tolka eventually pulled away in the fourth quarter. Biffi put the finishing touches to the game with a pull-up in transition. Shoutout to Lorcan O’Brien and Cian Byrne with huge energy tonight off the bench!
Although Tolka led throughout the game, poor defence from the lads allowed for Kubs to remain in the game right up until the end of the 4th quarter. Stupid fouls, unforced turnovers and bad shot selection resulted in a sloppy performance at times tonight from Tolka. The court being extremely slippy certainly did not help, nevertheless we will need to better going forward!
In regards to our team’s “shaqtin MVP” race, Sam Badejo made himself a strong contender for MVP after tonight’s performance. Badejo couldn’t buy a bucket tonight to save his life, missing layups constantly underneath the basket. All jokes aside , Badejo has been an absolute monster this season for us, a huge reason for our early success. Everyone has an “off-night” once in a while. The Real Shaqtin MVP moment tonight was when camera man Arthur Chololejenko fell off the stands while trying to take a picture! Absolute dedication from the young lad, which we thank gratefully for his amazing photos!
All eyes ahead now to the National Cup Quarter-final which will take place every soon. The U20’s will face Limerick Lions at home in Tolka (Date and time TBD). This is a huge game for us and we will need as much support as possible! We also face Malahide this Wednesday at home in the Dublin league which will be a good test before our quarter-final!
