Kilkenny Stars and Rockets clash in cracking National Cup encounter

A late change of venue saw the CluneTech Kilkenny Stars welcome one of the top teams in the division to Kilkenny all the way from Belfast for a cracker of a cup game at The Presentation Secondary School.

The crowd were treated to a high scoring, nail biting, high-quality game of basketball with Cleveland Rockets coming out on top after an epic battle.

The first quarter saw The Stars shoot into an early lead with scores from Stephanie Davis and Ava Coogan, but the Rockets settled quickly and found their range through Aoibheann Donnelly and Maeve Deery. The Stars lost one of their most in-form players Aoibhin Dunphy early on through illness and this had a visible impact on the team as they tried to adjust to this situation. The Rockets finished the quarter with a convincing seven-point lead (24-17).

In the second quarter The Stars rallied with some excellent scores from Miah Ryan, Caoimhe Timmons and Gemma Lawlor. The defensive intensity was incredible and The Rockets were made to work very hard for every score they got. The game was such a high standard with multiple Irish internationals on show from both teams. The Rockets were the more experienced team and at times their experience showed to keep them ahead in the game when The Stars were on their scoring runs. The score at half time was 40-45 in favour of the visitors, with the game set up for a big second half.

The third quarter was similar to the second with both teams going on runs and trading scores, for The Rockets were led by Aoibheann Donnelly, with a huge performance from Waterford native Kaitlyn Gloeckner. Stephanie Davis had a huge quarter for Stars, hitting 11 of her 29 points in this period. Caoimhe Timmons shone in this quarter, while Miah Ryan and Clodagh O’Neill made a big contribution to the game from the bench, but the Rockets pushed out their lead to eight points (66-58) heading into the final quarter.

The final quarter was a bit more stop-start with both teams getting into foul trouble as the pace of the game started to tell on the players. Ava Coogan continued to make her mark on the game with a huge performance at both ends of the floor while Aimee O’Reilly and Miah Ryan were excellent throughout for The Stars also. The Rockets kept the scoreboard ticking over to push out the margin to an 11-point win.

This was a great experience for the young CluneTech Kilkenny Stars team as The Rockets are one of the top teams in this league.

Next up for the Stars is home game against Moy Tolka Rovers on Saturday. Rovers have had a very mixed start to the season but who pose a huge threat. This promises to be a cracker of a game and not to be missed! All support welcome on the night.