Making a mark on the international basketball scene

Our final Merit Award winner in the Mayo Young Sports Stars Awards, Hazel Finn, left her mark on the international basketball scene in 2019.

Hazel captained the Irish team in tthe European Under 16 Championship, where they had mixed luck, but considering she was carrying an injury for most of the tournament, she put in some amazing performances and can be very proud of her efforts. She performed consistently well in all of Ireland's games.

Ireland won two of their group games, beating Montenegro and Belarus. The score against Belarus, their final group game, was 67-59 but they needed to win it by 12 points to make the quarterfinal. Losing to Great Britain in their pool proved to be the crucial game of the tournament.

Hazel's contribution was brave as she picked up a leg injury in her opening game but still continued to play in all of the contests, with Ireland finally finishing in 12th place.

A student at St. Louis Community School, Kiltimagh, Hazel plays her basketball with Maree BC in Galway.