Brilliant Berkeley boys are tops in South-East

The Berkeley Wolves under-15 boys’ basketball team were celebrating after they won the South-East top four playoffs over the weekend.

The Berkeley Boys played against the Wexford Basketball Club in the semi-final. As predicted, this was a real nailbiter with the game neck and neck from start to finish. The Wolves played tough defence, containing Wexford’s star Spanish player Guillermo Pardaljaraw, as they won by three points in the end (40-43).

In the final the Wolves faced up against the very tall Kildare Larrie Birds team who beat the Carlow team in the other semi-final. Again this was another tight game, with nothing between the teams for the first three quarters. As the action went on the Berkeley lads showed their class, pulling away in the final quarter to secure a famous victory.

“We really enjoyed that final win,” said coach Russ Ryan. “This season we have played in what was a very competeitive league.

“We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to get into our first top four play-offs and play two really strong teams, any of the teams who qualified for the finals in this division could easily have walked away with the final win, but we are delighted that we pulled through in the end.

“The Kilkenny Stars did a great job in hosting the event in Kilkenny City where teams from all over the South East competed in the different age groups,” he added. “Special thanks to all of the parents who supported the team, Grennan Collge in Thomastown, KRSP who has helped in the development of our club and to sponsors Walsh’s Centra in Thomastown.”