Woods twins keep Faith to the fore

Basketball All-Ireland Schools finals: To say the Westbrooks family have contributed to the advancement of basketball in north Dublin is a massive understatement.

Their odyssey continued unabated at the National Basketball Arena yesterday. After leading St Fintan's boys' secondary school to a third All-Ireland League title over the weekend, Jerome Westbrooks switched allegiance from his three sons to daughter Leah by coaching Holy Faith Clontarf to the Cadette A girls' All-Ireland crown.

Leah produced a superb defensive display but it was another set of siblings that ensured a comfortable victory over Presentation Thurles. The game's Most Valuable Player (MVP), Becky Woods, finished with 19 points, while twin sister Sarah and Alison Maguire also played their part.

The 55-18 final scoreline was an adequate reflection of their third- and fourth-quarter dominance but they were given a few scares early on.

The match was poised at 13-10 late in the first half only for the Dublin school to post 14 unanswered points. The Woods twins led the way during this blitz, the standout basket being a three-point special from Becky.

Holy Faith will go on to represent Ireland at the under-17 World Championships in Poland, in May, 2005. The school itself will have to fund the trip, with an expected cost of 12,000, which they are keen to do. The schools committee still has to rubber-stamp the trip, but given they are national league and cup winners it should be a formality.

Meanwhile, in the Senior B girls' final, between Loreto, Foxrock, and Coola PP, little separated the sides throughout, with only a late flourish from the south Dublin girls producing a 33-29 victory.

Foxrock trailed 26-23 with five minutes remaining but they pulled level before MVP Cara Brennan and Aisling O'Toole added the deciding points in the final 40 seconds.

They had gone in at half-time leading 16-15 after a three-point effort from Clare Healy right on the buzzer. Back came Coola to take a slim lead thanks to baskets from Sinead McTiernan and Schools international Bernice Byrne.

Ellen O'Brien pulled the sides level but excellent shooting from Stephanie O'Reilly kept Coola within sight of a first B title.

O'Reilly finished the match with 13 points but it wasn't enough to deny Foxrock, who are trained by Killester head coach Mark Ingle.

In the Cadette B decider, Castletroy overcame Coláiste Mhuire, Crosshaven, by a single point, 32-31.

They seemed to be cruising, at 30-21, midway through the fourth quarter, only for a Niamh Griffin-engineered revival to reduce the deficit to a point.

The drama went right to the last play with Castletroy captain and MVP Rachel Clancy weighing in with a timely interception to secure the laurels.

ALL-IRELAND SCHOOLS LEAGUE FINALS (National Basketball Arena): Cadette A girls: Holy Faith Clontarf 55 (B Woods 19, A Maguire 10, L Westbrooks 6, S McGrath 6, A de Paor 6), Presentation Thurles 18 (C Bryan 7, M Ryan 3, L Bannon 2). Senior B girls: Loreto Foxrock 33 (C Brennan 9, A O'Toole 7, O Healy 6), Coola PP 29 (S O'Reilly 13, M Brennan 4, S McTiernan 4). Cadette B girls: Castletroy (L Gray 14, R Clancy 11), Coláiste Mhuire Crosshaven (N Griffin 13, A O'Keefe 6).