Killester Basketball Club

KILLESTER 11890, 2010 National Cup Winners

Killester 11890 94 UCC Demons 69

Despite all the financial turmoil that has beset Basketball Ireland in the past year ultimately leading to the scrapping of the senior international teams, yesterday’s action at the National Basketball Arena gave fans of the game something positive to cling on to as Killester 11890 beat UCC Demons and DCU Mercy took their first cup title against Hotel Montenotte Glanmire.

Killester 11890 put in perhaps the best first half performance ever seen in a men’s cup final to lead cup holders UCC Demons 60-24 at half time and the final was over as a contest.

The Dubliners went at their opponents from the off and with Jermaine Turner 29 points and Paddy Kelly 12 pts on fire Demons just didn’t know what hit them. It wasn’t just a two man show from Mark Keenan’s side as Robbile Clarke 10 hit some excellent scores as did Mike Westbrooks 10 and Peder Madsen while Damien Sealy 11 and Michael Goj 9 came off the bench with crucial three pointers in a half that everything seemed to drop for the winners.

We all expected UCC Demons to come out a new team in the second half but Killester dug deep and could even afford the luzury of running the entire bench and leave Turner and Kelly off for long periods as the Arena descended into an eerie silence and Killester went on to win 94-69.

Demons were without the influential Niall Murphy but it is difficult to see whether he would have made a huge difference with Killester 11890 in such brilliant form.

Two of the happiest men in the National Basketball Arena after the game were Mark Keenan and Jermaine Turner.

Coach Keenan described the first half as wonderful stuff. “Last weekend we went to Belfast and hit 76 points in the first half but to score 60 in the first half with all the pressure of a cup final was something special. As I have been saying so many times we were so upset about losing last year and there was no way that was going to happen this time. We showed wonderful teamwork and yes we scored 60 but it was our defence that held them to 24 and that was the key to the victory. It was a breathtaking display”

“We have so much talent in the squad and when you think that we are without Jonny Grennell, John Behan, Kieran O’Brien and Eoin McDermott that was some performance. I can only say I am so proud of each and every one of the guys and our supporters who were brilliant. Lets not also forget our sponsors 11890 Directory Enquiries and O’Neills” said an extatic Keenan.

Jermaine Turner really won the game for Killester with his workrate, scoring and powerful rebounding. He scored a 100% 24 points in the first half.

“This means so much to me. I have never won a cup and to do it in my first season with Killester is phenomenal. The guys have been fantastic this season. We have had so many injuries but I believe that the turning point in our season was when Paddy (Kelly) togged out despite being injured in the quarter final win over UL Eagles. That did it for us” said the MVP Jermaine with the broadest smile in Tallaght.

A LOOK AHEAD AT ANOTHER CUP FINAL

Well here we are, back in the National Cup Final for the 3rd consecutive year and facing our old foes from Cork, UCC Demons. We met Demons in last seasons Cup Final and League Championship Final, coming out on the losing side on both occasions :-( Hopefully we can turn that around next weekend though. We havn't really been playing "the Killester way" this season, but after our two losses over Christmas we had a team meeting to clear the air and to put things right on the court. It was a very positive meeting followed by a very intense week of practice and a 20 point victory the next weekend against Moycullen. The one thing Coach Keenan emphasisis a number of times a week, EVERY week is our DEFENSE. Against UCD Marian in the Cup Semi Final last weekend in the Neptune Stadium, we really "upped our viva" keeping Marian to 22 points in the first half so we were really happy about that considering they have some guys who can really score the basketball like Neil Baynes, Dan James and CJ Meany to name a few. Lets hope we keep that up for the rest of the season.

National Cup Finals weekend is the most exciting weekend on the basketball calender without doubt. I remember growing up going out to the Arena and watching every game all weekend long absolutely loving it hoping that one day I'd be out there playing in front of the crowds and on T.V. and now that I'm going to be there for the 3rd year in a row, saying I'm excited is an understatement. So hopefully all our kids in the club come out to support us next weekend and to get a taste of what to expect in the future. We're going to need all the support we can get as we all know about Demons fans. They are craaaazy!! I must admit though, they do have the best fans in the country to be fair to them. Now in saying that, the year we won the National Cup the majority of the Arena that day was orange and very vocal. So hopefully our "6th man" comes out in their hundreds and takes over the Arena again!!

The 2009/10 season is a new start for Killester Basketball Club as we have new sponsorship in 11890 Directory Enquiries, so what better way to start our relationship as we mean to go on by bringing the National Cup back to Killester. Now going into the Final, Demons will be bookies favourites having lost less games then us and also having beaten us in our league encounter back in November, but the underdog status isn't a bad thing as the pressure will be on Demons. Demons have the likes of Shane Coughlan who is their rock and most good things go through him. Come crunch time, Coach D'Alessio will want the ball in Shane's hands, and in the past he has come through in the clutch, going back to 2003's Cup Final where he hit the game winning free throw. Their main Irish scorer this season has been Niall Murphy, but unfortunately Niall is out for the rest of the season with his knee (wishing him a speedy recovery), so that just means the likes of Carlton Cuff, Kyle Hosford, David Murphy and Shane Duggan will all step up, like they did last week against Neptune in their very entertaining Semi Final win. Then inside they have a very effective American in Joshua Johnson who does a bit of everything while their other American, Tyronne Beale, who has only played limited minutes in one game, I've been told is a dynamite scorer. Demons MVP in their Semi Final win last weekend was their 6'11 Polish star, Michael Plichta who can cause a lot of trouble inside. Looking at us, I feel we have the best American in the league in Jermaine Turner. J-Rabbit could win a game on his own and you know he's going to be up for this one as this is his first Cup Final. We have the best Irish player in the league in Paddy Kelly and we have the two best shooters in the league in Pete Madsen and Michael Goj. Both teams are loaded with ammunition so it really should be a very entertaining game and could go either way.

Shout out to our supporters in Toronto, Canada who will be supporting us from over there mayte!!

"Offense wins games, defense wins championships"

*** Written by Robbie Clarke

NEW LOGO's and DESIGN for Killester's Superleague Uniforms.

Killester Basketball Club 'HOOP IT UP' Christmas Camp 2009

The camp was held in St. David’s, Artane from Monday 28th December to Thursday 31st December. It ran from 10am-3pm each day. Ages ranged from 6-15 years.

Excellent tuition was given by coaches Kelvin Troy, Jermaine Turner and Conor Gordon who made the camp great fun and very beneficial to all the budding young basketball players. Michelle Clarke was a valued member of the camp staff, refereeing games and helping out when needed as well as looking after the running of the tuck shop.

The camp ran very smoothly with drills and competitions each day. Kelvin led the warm up and then they broke up into groups with Jermaine taking the seniors, Kelvin the Intermediates and Conor the Juniors. Groups were rotated for skills sessions and returned to their main coach for competitions. The highlight each day was the “Hot Seat” competition with the winner getting their lunch bought for them in McDonalds. There was great enthusiasm for this competition.

Other competitions held daily were 1v1, hustle and lay up drills and ball handling drills. Trophies were awarded to the winners in each category as well as MVP boys and MVP girls along with Most Improved Player and Best Defensive Player.

Certificates were awarded to all who attended the camp. After the trophies were presented, it was announced that Killester would be running a camp at Easter. Very positive feedback was received from the parents.

A big thank you to all the Camp Staff.

Philly Clarke

"HANGING FROM THE RAFTERS"

The Story of Neptune and the Golden Age of Irish Basketball' is written by award winning author Kieran Shannon which covers the explosion of basketball in Ireland during the 1980s. This book has been hailed as a " terrific sports book .... a fascinating piece of social history " by the Sunday Times.

Kieran Shannon is also an ex Killester BC player as he played Division 1 Dublin league 7 years ago. Kieran continues the long and storied relationship between two massive basketball clubs, Neptune BC and Killester BC.

This book will be available to buy at KILLESTER SUPERLEAGUE home games from this Saturday's National Cup double header. Read and relive the best of basketball in the 1980s.

2009 Texaco Sports Bursary Awards

Above: John Treacy ( CEO Irish Sports Council ) , Ken Clarke & Enda Riney ( Chairman of Texaco Ireland )

Killester Basketball Club were presented with a 2009 Texaco Sports Bursaries Award on the 19th Oct. at a reception in the Conrad Hotel, Dublin. A record number 582 sports clubs submitted applications and Killester where one of the 25 successful clubs. The bursary will be used to provide the development teams (6-11 years ) with huffie basketball goals so as to allow all players to score in appropriate sized baskets, it will also allow all teams to receive first aid bags as well as providing training in first aid, coaching, table officials, and refereeing as well as other badly needed equipment.

Ken Clarke who accepted the award along with Mark Grennell and Arthur King had this to say to the web site. "It is a great boost to all in the club that we have received not only recognition for the massive amount of voluntary work carried out by the volunteers of Killester BC but we get a much needed boost to our finances which will be spent on our underage programme on training and equipment. This award should also be seen as a boost to all Basketball clubs, it not only the Soccer,GAA or Rugby clubs who are getting the grants and bursaries."

Killester extend their appreciation to to Chevron Ireland Ltd. and the Texaco Bursary judges for choosing Killesters successful application.

Maree Basketball Club, Galway and Green Giants of Limerick were the other successfull basketball clubs.

KILLESTER GETS THE CALL FROM

- 11890 -

Killester Basketball Club is delighted to announce a sponsorship partnership with 11890. Club Chairman Michael McCormack is delighted with the news.

“I am so happy with this sponsorship partnership and I must pay tribute to our PRO Declan King, Mark Grennell and Stephen O’Brien for putting the package together and to Nicola Byrne the Managing Director of 11890 for coming on board Irelands biggest Basketball Club. In this economic climate it is terrific for us as a club to be able to attract a sponsor of the caliber of 11890 and I can only hope that this is the start of a wonderful relationship with Nicola and her team at 11890”

11890 Founder and Managing Director Nicola Byrne is also delighted with the partnership. “I am very happy to be able to sponsor a club like Killester. Times are tough at the moment and I know how difficult it is to get sponsorship but I am really happy to be getting involved with Killester and can’t wait to get to some games in Clontarf”.