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 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.  This game was the first round of the Dominos National Cup so a knockout game.

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 7 point lead on a 17 v 24 scoreline.

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 v 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 Aoibheann Donnelly was sublime and was helped with a huge performance from Waterford native Kaitlyn Gloeckner. Stephanie Davis had a huge quarter for Stars and hit 11 of her 29 points in this period. Caoimhe Timmons was excellent throughout and really shone in this quarter also along with Miah Ryan and Clodagh O’Neill made a big contribution to the game from the bench.  The Rockets pushed out their lead to 8 points to lead 58 v 66 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. Unfortunately, it was not to be for The Stars on the night as the Cleveland Rockets kept the scoreboard ticking over to push out the margin to an 11 point victory at the end of the game.  This was a great experience for our young CluneTech Kilkenny Stars team as The Rockets would be considered to be in the top 2 teams in this league, they definitely hit the road back to Belfast knowing they were in a battle.  Next weekend is a break for The Stars girls from the Dominos Womens Division One league but the U18 Girls are headed to Cavan to compete in the National Cup Competition.

Next up we welcome Moy Tolka Rovers to Kilkenny on Saturday 22nd November who 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. Your support would be very welcome on the night.   

As always thanks to our main sponsor CluneTech whose support for this team makes their participation in this league possible. Also to our home game sponsor Infocus Opticians and our other team sponsors Langtons, Kytelers Inn and Cleeres Bar & Theatre.