Curran and Dolan shine for victorious Castlerea Community School
Castlerea Community School captain, Joseph Botton, receives the North-West Regional League Shield from Joe Henry.
The Castlerea Community School (CCS) U-19 boys made history last week as they brought home their second regional league title in as many years with a hard-fought victory over Sligo Grammar at Castlerea Enterprise Hub.
Jack Dolan came up with some massive late scores for the West Roscommon school in a closely contested game that featured an enthralling scoring battle between CCS’s Dara Curran and the Grammar’s Jack Glenister.
Sligo went 5-0 ahead almost immediately after the tip. It took Castlerea a few possessions to find their rhythm before a couple of Curran three-pointers settled nerves.
Point guard, Kevin Hester, added scores inside to assist Curran, who nailed another three-pointer to begin the second quarter.
For the Sligo school, Zac Henry emerged as another serious threat, combining with Glenister for 19 of the Grammar’s 21 first-half points.
The winning of the game was Castlerea’s spread of scorers as Seán Vaughan and James Hawkshaw came off the bench with scoring contributions to go with a Dolan three before the half-time break where CCS led 24-21.
The third quarter mirrored the caginess of the first. Curran had cooled off as Henry and Glenister continued to produce. But Castlerea Community School had the answer as scores from Hester, Jamie Dowd and captain, Joseph Botton, kept their side ticking over. The scoreboard read 33-28 to CCS going into the fourth quarter.
The intensity picked up early in the final period, and Sligo’s bench weren’t shy about letting Curran know about a turnover early in the quarter. Only seconds later, Curran did his talking on the court after picking the pocket of the Sligo guard for an easy lay-up.
Technical fouls were handed out to Sligo’s bench for the interaction and Hester duly sank the free throws to put his side nine points to the good. Glenister was not finished though, as he single-handedly brought his team back on level terms with three long-range scores.
It looked as if Sligo Grammar had figured out Castlerea’s threats as they took away space on the perimeter for Curran’s shooting and clogged the lane when Hester looked to drive.
Enter Jack Dolan, who posted back-to-back scores that killed the Grammar’s momentum. At the other end, defensive adjustments allowed CCS to keep the ball out of Glenister’s hands for many of Sligo Grammar’s final possessions.
Curran and Hester finished fast breaks before Dolan added a free throw to push the lead back to nine and retain the North-West Regional League title for their school.
Curran finished with 18 points, followed by Hester with eleven. Glenister had 20 for Sligo, while Henry added 14.
Both teams have qualified for the All-Ireland play-offs in January.
CASTLEREA COMMUNITY SCHOOL: K. Hester, J. Dowd, J. Dolan, J. Hawkshaw, J. Botton, D. Curran, M. Keaveney, S. Vaughan, O. Fleming, H. Clavin, T. Waldron, I. Osei, N. Du Toit, R. Mania, C. Fitzmaurice, A. Varga.
