It was an action-packed weekend for Kilkenny Stars teams across a variety of competitions and all over the country. After the heroics of our U18 Ladies the previous weekend, up stepped our U20 Ladies this weekend with a home draw against Dublin Raiders in the Ken Clarke U20 National Cup Competition. The Stars put in a dominant performance with Aimee O’Reilly, Aoibhin Dunphy, Caoimhe Timmons and Lena Zydek combining for 66 points in the game. Up next is a much tougher challenge at home against Glanmire of Cork in December.
In Cork, our U14 Boys travelled to participate in the Cork Co Board tournament with 17 of the top clubs from around the country. The guys had a tough start against Limerick Lions going down in that pone but bounced back with convincing wins against Blue Demons and Fr Matthews to book their place in the quarter finals against Eanna from Dublin. This was a fantastic game with both teams exchanging the lead regularly throughout and the game going right down to the wire. It was the Kilkenny team who came out on top to secure a semi-final spot and make history as the first Kilkenny team to make it this far in the competition. The guys ran out of steam in the semi-final in what was a gruelling schedule and lost out narrowly to Neptune of Cork. A fantastic day out for the boys.
In Ennis, our U16 Girls took part in the All Ireland League competition and started the day with a tough game against St Mary’s of Castleisland. The Kerry outfit came out on top in this one but the Stars bounced back with two big wins against Ennis Rockets and Liffey Celtics to make it a day worth remembering and keeping the team in contention in the overall standings. The next tournament will be hosted in Kilkenny just before Christmas on Saturday 20th December, one for the diaries!
Elsewhere our U12 Boys kept their unbeaten streak going in the league with a win away to Carlow while our U12 Girls put in a massive performance against giants of the ladies game Waterford Wildcats to secure the win. Our U15 Boys did the business against Carlow BC and our U14 Girls kicked off their league campaign with a great win against Portlaoise Panthers.
Club Chairperson Damien Brett said “There is a real air of positivity in the club at the moment. Our Coaches, Committees, Parents and Players are all working really hard together to make sure that we provide the best environment possible for our players to have fun and be the best versions of themselves on and off the court. Our club is proud to compete in the Kilkenny & South East Leagues while our focus goes beyond that as we work to continuously establish ourselves as a force in Irish basketball.”
Next Saturday our CluneTech Kilkenny Stars Ladies take on Moy Tolka Rovers at 6pm in O’Loughlin Gaels Gaa Club. Come along and support our ladies in what will be a very tough test for them against a really strong Dublin team.
