Cork crowned U17 inter-county basketball champions 

Cork 73 Galway 41

CORK were crowned U17 inter-county champions following a comfortable win over Galway at the University of Limerick complex.

The Leesiders — under coach Pat Curran of Bantry and assistant coach Tomás Manning of St Anthony’s — were in control right from tip-off, playing a high-tempo and free-flowing game having impressed throughout the tournament.

Speaking after the win, Manning praised all concerned.

“The squad is talented and with Pat Curran doing a good job at the helm I think the players responded in kind with solid performances right throughout this tournament,” said Manning.

In the opening quarter, Cork played good defence and with Daryl Cuff and Rory O’Flynn running the floor they soon commanded an eight-point lead.

The westerners were relying on the shooting of Liam Connolly to keep them within sight of the Leesiders but Cork deservedly commanded a 19-9 lead entering the second quarter.

The trend of the game didn’t change on the restart and a late Jack Scannell jumper helped Cork secure a 37-19 interval lead.

There is little doubt the Cork pressure derailed the Galway challenge in the third quarter as they put the game to bed with some champagne basketball that saw them increase their lead to 34 points.

Coming down the stretch the Cork coach could afford to use various rotations but it made little difference as this final was one-way traffic.