2024: U20 Mens Nat Lge Plate Final: Phoenix Wolves v Neptune BC: 13 April 2024

FULL GAME
Phoenix Wolves 91-78 Neptune BC
Quarters: 30 - 27, 10 - 24 (40 - 51), 29 - 10 (69 - 61), 22 - 17 (91 - 78)
Video Credit: Basketball Ireland
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U20 MENS NATIONAL LEAGUE PLATE FINAL
PHOENIX WOLVES 91-78 NEPTUNE
Saturday saw the culmination of a very successful debut season for Phoenix BC in the U20 Mens National League - as Ryan Berger's lads lifted the Plate trophy in the NBA.
In this year's U20 National League twenty-five U20 teams were divided into four groups and the Phoenix Wolves competed in the 7-team Group 4.
The initial Phoenix Wolves squad was a young one.
It's core comprised members of the strong Phoenix U18s team (Jacob, Fiontan, Eoghan, Tom, Faroug, Omar, Conn and Sam) as well as Arnas and Zach who left Phoenix's junior basketball last year.
Three BC Wolves players played in the squad (Nedas, Naglis and Eric). American student Danny Lavelle completed the squad for the opening games.
Our season started slowly with a first round loss in the U20 National Cup (away to St Brendans Tralee) and a poor performance against Belfast Star at home in our opening league game.
But a first win against Ongar Chasers at home, followed by one against Dundalk Dynamites got our season up and running!
For our next game against the then league leaders Killester BC we saw Ben Martin and Callum Keys join our squad and we kept our winning run going with an impressive 79-72 win over the Dublin side.
We went into the next game, against Drogheda Wolves, as league leaders, but a disappointing performance saw us being well beaten in Drogheda.
In this very competitive league this loss, despite a comprehensive win in our final game in Malahide, saw us fall to fourth place. This meant we were destined for the subsidiary Plate competition rather than competing for the league trophy.
Wins away from home over Moycullen in the Plate quarter-final and Blue Demons (Cork) in the semis saw us grab our spot in Plate final on Saturday.
See Team Manager Malachy Kearney's game report on the Plate final and his comments and views on his team's season below.
GAME REPORT
"For the climax of our U20 season we travelled to the National Arena to face Neptune in the National League Plate Final.
Neptune had overcome Portlaoise Panthers and Ongar Chasers in the previous rounds and we knew they would be formidable opponents today.
In a blistering first quarter, with multiple lead changes, there was little between the two teams, and only our 3-point finishing given us a slight edge at the end of the quarter.
In the second quarter our defense faltered, allowing Neptune too many layups and open 3-pointers. Eleven points down at the end of Q2 we needed Coach Ryan’s team talk.
Into the third quarter, Ryan had clearly gotten the lads refocussed as we powered forward to win the quarter by 19 points.
In Q4, great finishing from Callum and Fiontan gave us a double digit lead, and enough to withstand the late pressure from the very talented Neptune team.
A fantastic team performance today, with Callum winning the very well deserved MVP award after a brilliant 33 points."
ON THE SEASON
"Our first season at U20 has exceeded our expectations.
With 7 wins from 10 games and a well earned piece of silverware, we can be confident of our ability to compete at the national level in the seasons ahead.
We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Ryan Berger. We were privileged to have his experience and expertise along with his uncanny ability to always remain calm and collected under pressure.
A huge thanks to Jack Sherry, Justin Rush and Brian Keys who didn’t hesitate to drive the length and breadth of the country to get the lads to the games.
A huge thanks as well to Callum, flying back from university in Manchester for the key games - a level of commitment demonstrating the essence of our great club."
FINAL NOTE: Thank YOU Malachy for all your work with the U20s this season. As always everything was run with great professionalism and all that work played it's part in the squads' successful first season!
Final Score: Phoenix Wolves 91 - Neptune 78
Quarters: 30 - 27, 10 - 24 (40 - 51), 29 - 10 (69 - 61), 22 - 17 (91 - 78)
Phoenix Team/Scorers: Callum Keys 33, Fiontan Rogers 16, Ben Martin 16, Danny Lavelle 12, Jacob Byrne 8, Eoghan Sherry 3, Zach Lynas 2, Arnas Zal 1, Tom Kearney, Omar Akhonzada, Conn Rush
Coach: Ryan Berger