Kilkenny Stars write name in basketball history books

On Sunday the Kilkenny Stars Ladies team wrote their name into the history books by competing in the club’s first senior game in the Basketball Ireland National Development League.

The team has been assembled from a very young pool of players who all came up through the underage structure in the club.

This game was a proud occasion for players, parents, coaches and the wider club membership.

The team proudly bears the name CluneTech Kilkenny Stars to recognise the sponsor CluneTech is a suite of companies which provide industry-leading solutions that simplify global business and originated right here in Kilkenny.

To play local rivals Portlaoise Panthers in their first game was pretty special for the Ladies on the Sunday night of the Bank Holiday Weekend.

A large contingent of supporters made the trip to St Mary’s Hall, Portlaoise for the game. The first quarter was played at blistering pace with Gemma Lawlor scoring the first ever basket for the Stars in the National League.

The Stars were relentless in their defence, limiting their opponents to tough shots while different types of scores were coming from all over the Stars team. Faye McDonnell and Ava Coogan proved a handful near the basket and Faye Scanlon was rewarded with some scores off the back of her amazing defence while Aimee O’Reilly added a few buckets after being introduced late in the quarter.

The Stars went in at the end of the first quarter with a 19-10 lead.

The second quarter was even more impressive as The Stars continued their aggressive defence, adding scores from Aoibhin Dunphy, Lucy Coomey and Clodagh O’Neill off the bench. The pressure was relentless as the Stars went in 47-19 in front.

Portlaoise rallied in the third quarter, changing to a zone defence to slow down the Stars, who were held to just two points in the quarter. Portlaoise rattled off nine points, setting up an interesting and nervy final quarter. The home side came out the stronger at the start of the quarter and managed to cut the lead to 13 points from 28.

A quick five points from Gemma Lawlor kick-started the Stars into action in the final quarter and they never looked back, finishing very strongly with contributions by Kila Kavanagh and Aoibhin Timmons and a fine score to end the game by Elena Lauhoff.

Coach Puff Summers was very happy with the performance but did say that there is a lot more to come from this team. They are young and they will learn and get better with each game.

Next up is a huge home game against Dublin Raiders on Saturday. The Stars are expecting a big crowd to raise the roof on the O’Loughlin Gaels venue at 7pm.

Kilkenny Stars: Aoibhin Dunphy (14), Faye McDonnell (13), Ava Coogan (10), Faye Scanlon (8), Gemma Lawlor (7), Aimee O’Reilly (6), Clodagh O’Neill (3), Elena Lauhoff (2), Lucy Coomey (2), Kila Kavanagh, Aoibhin Timmons.