Basketball

Sligo Grammar School has developed basketball as an extra-curricular activity in the past few years. Training is done after school in the school gym. This is a great basketball facility and all home games are played here.

Basketball is a very popular sport in the school with students from various year groups competing for the school. There are U19 (Senior)and U16 (Junior) teams for boys. There are also second year and first year teams. Girls are welcome to train but as yet there is not a sufficient number to form a team.

2022 – 2023

U16 BASKETBALL

On Friday 3^rd February Sligo Grammar School U16 Basketball team travelled to the National Basketball Arena in Dublin. The met Ard Scoil Na Mara, Waterford in the quarter finals of the U16 Secondary Schools National Basketball competition. Ultimately, after a hard-fought game, the SGS boys were defeated by a very strong Waterford team. Well done to the players and coach, Anthony Flores, on their fantastic achievement in reaching this stage of the National competition, which saw many impressive wins on the way and bodes well for next season.

BASKETBALL SUCCESS!

During the Covid-19 Pandemic basketball was the sport which suffered most. Because it is an indoor sport it had to be suspended until the pandemic was under control. However, now that things have settled down, SGS Basketball is back! Under coach Anthony Flores the school has teams from across all age groups training after school on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. On Monday 28th November the U16 B Boys team won the North West Basketball League, beating St. Geralds College, Castlebar. The final score was 50 – 40 to SGS. Well done to the boys and best of luck to all our Basketball teams in 2022/2023!

2021 – 2022

Covid-19 badly affected the Basketball competitions in 2020 and 2021. Because the game is played indoors a halt was called to all training and competitions for most of the two years. A short break at the beginning of the 2021- 2022 year allowed some training to take place but outbreaks of the virus caused the suspension of the sport again. Finally, once the students were fully vaccinated, training and competitions re-started.

THROUGH TO THE FINAL IN BASKETBALL!

Last week, on Friday 11^th March, Sligo Grammar School 2^nd Yr Basketball Team won the north West League Semi-Final, beating St Gerald’s College, Castlebar.

Sligo Grammar started off with an 8-0 lead in the first 3 mins with Jasper Gimena leading the way and Ben O’Connor chipping 5 points off fast break runs. St Geralds gained their composure at the end of the quarter to finish the first quarter down by 8 points. At the start of the second, Sligo Grammar came out a little lethargic. We were beat to the basket with passes thrown over our heads, leading to easy scores for St. Gerald’s. We got several baskets at the end of the quarter and still retained the lead going into half-time with a score line of 22-17. At the start of the third quarter both teams attacked back and forth but St Gerald’s made a run through the hands of their big man, Luke Lydon, and their guard, Jack Lynn, who scored most of his points in the first quarter, but was a steady influence in the last two quarters. Zac Henry was terrific on defence in the third quarter and got us a basket when we really needed it. Bobby Hanrahan, Kelvin and Kenneth Kalu were integral to the win in their defence and rebounding. as was Mark Bradley, Djino Kaniki and Sean McKeon who gave valuable minutes throughout to keep us in the lead. Djino scored some fantastic baskets at the end of the game and made some great passes to the Kalu brothers to give us a 12 point lead that ultimately reduced to 8 for the final score of 42-34. Leading scorers were Sligo Grammar’s Jasper Gimena (11), Kelvin Kalu (10), Zac Henry (7), St Geralds Luke Lydon (14), Jack Lynn (7).

Well done to all the boys and huge thanks to Coach Anthony Flores. Good luck to the Team in the Finals.

Previous Years

2019 – 2020

The basketball season got off to a great start for the U19s with the team winning its first two matches! The U19s won 53-51 against St. Mel’s College Longford and beat St. Colman’s College Claremorris 48-20.
They sadly lost to St. Brendan’s College Belmullet 59-52 despite their best efforts. Our basket- ball coach is Mr. Flores, who welcomes anyone who wishes to try basketball. The U16’s and U19’s train on Mondays and Fridays, while 1st and 2nd years train on Tuesdays. We wish all the teams the best of luck in all their upcoming matches and we know they will make us proud.

2017/18 Season

On Tuesday Jan. 23rd Sligo Grammar School emerged victorious in the U16 Basketball Schools All-Ireland Championship. They beat St. Munchin’s, Limerick in an exciting match at the National Arena in Dublin. Coached by Anthony Flores, the SGS team put in a terrific performance, winning 50 – 43. Divine Akude was awarded MVP (Most Valuable Player) for the match. The team was captained by Mark McGlynn and everyone played a blinder!! They were well supported by a bus-load of their classmates. Huge thanks to all who came to cheer them on and especially to Coach Anthony Flores for his hard work and dedication.

Basketball Teams have enjoyed a very successful first trem, not least the U16s who won the Semi-Final of the Hula Hoops Schools Boys 16 C Basketball Cup.

Here is a report on their win by their coach, Anthony Flores

On December 19^th Sligo Grammar School U16 boy’s basketball team matched up against the St Joseph’s, Derry in the Hula Hoops Schools Boys U16 C Basketball Cup. This was the first semi-final for any Grammar School basketball team since the senior team won the cup in 2007.

In what was an exciting game of underage hoops. Sligo Grammar opened up the tally with a score from Mark McGlynn straight for the tip. It was followed by a free throw and lay-up by Divine Akude. For the next 5 minutes each team was getting rid of its’ nerves turning the ball over continuously. St Joseph’s started to break down our defense with good drives and finishes and they were up 11-5 for most of the first quarter but we finally brought it back to 11-8.

Sligo Grammar looked exceptionally strong in the second quarter with all of the scoring coming from Mark McGlynn and Divine Akude with a tally of 10 points between them. The defense was stepped up by the whole team, and St. Joseph’s only managed 2 scores for the quarter with a score of 18-15 to end the first half.

In the 3^rd quarter both teams battled back and forth and neither would give an inch. Although St. Joseph’s best player went to the bench with 3 fouls the team managed to hit a 3 and a couple of layups to give them a short lived lead which was erased by the scoring prowess of Divine Akude who gave St. Joseph’s a lot of trouble inside the paint with his athleticism. SGS player Mark McGlynn’s attack proved an asset to the team as he finished up the quarter with a score. Both teams finished the quarter with 11 points apiece. With the score at the end of the quarter being 29-26 in favour of Sligo Grammar School.

The fourth quarter was more of the same but other members of the team contributed to the scoreline. Some clutch scores from Bridel Bosakani and Josh Henry supplemented the scores with great shooting and attacking. It was a back and forth affair which resulting in fouls for both teams with only 5 minutes to go in the game. But supporters from the Grammar and from Colaiste Choilimcille Ballyshannon ( Mark McGlynn’s hometown) gave the boys that lift they needed to secure the win 44-46. In the last 53 seconds Josh Henry stepped up with 4 free throws that helped seal the game helped along with a big block in the last 7 seconds by Divine Akude. Scorers Divine Akude 28, Mark McGlynn 14, Josh Henry 8

2016/17 Season

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SENIOR BOYS TEAM

The Senior Boys Team had a great season with 5 games won and only 1 lost. They were unlucky to lose their first game but then went on to win the next 4 games in their regional group. Unfortunately, after such a successful run, they suffered a loss in the semi-finals
of the regional championship against Rosses Community School.

The following are the results from the season:

SGS – 80; Ballinode College – 10
SGS – 39; St. Claires, Manorhamilton – 21
SGS – 54; Rosses C.S. – 28
SGS – 37; Errigal College, Lettterkenny – 28

JUNIOR BOYS TEAM

The Junior basketball team started off very well this season.They won every game in their regional group. They then lost in the final match of the regional finals. However, due to two teams from each region being allowed to go through, SGS Juniors made it to the All-Ireland Championships. Unfortunately they were knocked out in the playoffs.