Featured Sponsors

16802 visitors
since January 1, 2012

TULLAMORE BASKETBALL CLUB

TULLAMORE U16 GIRLS MIDLAND LEAGUE AND CUP RUNNERS UP 2013

Colaiste Choilm Tullamore U19B All Ireland Cup Silver Medallists 2013

19 B Boys All-Ireland Schools Cup Final

Colaiste Colm Tullamore 58 (26)

Palmerstown Community College 62 (34)

MVP Cyril Kwan

Report by John Finegan

A very strong middle half to the U19B boys cup final gave Palmerstown Community School enough of an advantage to see off the challenge of a very brave Colaiste Choilm, Tullamore.

MVP Cyril Kwan from Palmerstown led the charge with some superb three-pointers and despite a very late surge from the Offaly raiders, Palmerstown held firm to lift the cup.

A deafening roar got the match-up underway and Colaiste Cholm Tullamore got off to much the brighter start, buoyed on by the first score of the game thanks to early good work from Guard James Lalor. Indeed, Lalor was a prominent figure throughout for Colaiste Choilm and scored some late points to give his side some hope in the closing stages.

Tullamore settled quickly and raced into a 10-4 lead leaving Palmerstown Community School coach John Glennon fearing the worst for his side. A spate of missed chances especially from steals went begging, as at the other end Colaiste Cholm kept scoring at will. A time-out from Palmerstown seemed to settle the early nerves and they came out much more like a cohesive unit.

But everything Colaiste Cholm touched seemed to be turning to gold with Mark Dubrov scoring an excellent two-pointer before team-mate Ciaran Moloney limped off with a minute left of the first quarter. In the dying seconds, Kwan fired in a three-pointer to give his side a lifeline, going in 12-8 down.

The second quarter saw some much better attacking from Palmerstown (who outscored Tullamore 26-14) and Kwan was at it again with another super three-pointer to draw his side to within a point of Tullamore. However, that prompted an immediate response from the Offaly boys who responded with a brilliant three-pointer of their own.

Palmerstown were stealing possession at will but were missing the scoring opportunities.

Kwan looped in another shot from outside the circle to put Palmerstown into the lead for the first time (17-18) and shortly afterwards his team-mate Gori Afolahan missed an opportunity to put some daylight between the teams.

As the quarter progressed, Palmerstown got stronger and stronger and forced Colaiste Choilm to begin their defence very high up the court. More three-pointers from the magic Kwan and some missed free throws from Tullamore’s Jack Dunne saw Palmerstown lead at half-time 26-34.

The second half begun much like the first had ended with Palmerstown in control and taking their scores. They stretched into a deserved 28-42 lead. However, Colaiste Choilm gathered themselves under Amanda Hogan’s guidance from the touchline and fought back to trail 35-46 with under three minutes left in the third quarter.

Colaiste Choilm staged a mini-comeback with some good scores and solid defending to trail at the end of third quarter 41-48.

The final quarter was a tense affair for both teams. The Offaly boys were pushing hard to close the gap while the Dublin side were holding out.

There were plenty of fouls as the pressure mounted on both sides in a scrappy ending.

However, Palmerstown kept chipping away with two-pointers while Colaiste Choilm chased the game.

Every missed opportunity by Palmerstown was cheered like a score form the Tullamore section of the crowd. Colaiste Choilm were asserting some extreme pressure on the Palmerstown defence but the Dublin boys held on for a deserved victory.

Colaiste Colm Tullamore 58 (26) ( J Lalor 18, D Byrne 12, J Dunne 13)

Palmerstown Community College 62 (34) (C Kwan 20, 11 L Glennon 13, N Eniafe 11)

Colaiste Choilm Tullamore U16 team. All Ireland B Bronze medalists and Midland Regional Champions

SHS First Years reach All Ireland Semi Final 2012

Hats off to Sacred Heart Secondary School First Years who won bronze medals in the First Years B grade for 2012. They were crowned Midland Regional Champions in Portlaoise on the 21st of March. They qualified for the All Ireland series by defeating Ursuline Secondary School Thurles 49 to 31. In the All Ireland play-offs they defeated Scoil Mhuire Longford 37-16, St Louis Kiltimagh 40-17 and Ursuline College Sligo 36-23 to qualify for the All Ireland Final Four. Their run of 9 straight victories came to an end at the hands of eventual All Ireland champions St Josephs Presentation Castleisland 31-42 in the semi final played at the University of Limericks centre court on May10th 2012. Twelve members of Tullamore BC under 14 girls team are on the SHS team. All the girls played extremely well all year and also well done to their outstanding coach Niamh McEnhill and her team of advisors! The successful SHS team was Maisie Currams, Rebecca O Mahoney, Isobel Browne, Celia Hynes, Ailbhe Byrne, Brid Molyneaux, Caoimhe Guinan, Emily Bailey, Aisling Fox, Rachel Heffernan, Aoife Spain, Aoibheann O Mahoney, Amy Galvin and Coach Nianh McEnhill.

U14 BOYS. FIRST TULLAMORE TEAM TO HOST IN COLAISTE CHOILM

SUSAN MORAN AND THE HAWKS VISIT TULLAMORE

Undoubably the best Female Irish Player of all time. Local girl Susan left Ireland to play at D1 University St. Josephs inPhiladelphia USA. Susan had the best college career any Irish player has ever had and she picked up numerous awards along the way. Susan was the Atlantic 10 and Big 5 rookie of the year in 1999. Susan was selected to the Atlantic ten and big 5 first team in 2000 and 2001. In 2002 Susan was the Atlantic Ten player of the year and the conferences leading scorer. Susan left St. Joe's as their all time leading scorer (2,340 points). Susan went on to be the first Irish player to be drafteed to the WNBA and she played for the New York Liberty and also played professionally in Spain, New Zealand and Australia. In 2005, Moran earned MVP honors of the Women's National Basketball League in New Zealand after leading the Canterbury Wildcats to the league title. In the summer of 2006, Moran earned MVP honors of the Queensland Australia Basketball League as a member of the Rockhampton Cyclones. Through out this time Susan was also playing with Ireland's senior womens team in the European Championships were she showed tremendous leadership.

Susan now enters her 10th season as an assistant coach on Hawk Hill. Moran is responsible for post development, opponent scouting and international recruiting. Tullamore basketball club are honoured to host the "Hawks" and to have Irelands most decorated female basketball player come home. The team ran a clinic for our young girls on Saturday 18th August. It was well attended by Coaches, Parents and local media. Thanks to Susan and Head coach Cindy Griffin for organising clinic. The young girls are already dreaming of a return visit to Philadelphia some day!

U10 GIRLS WIN TOMMY KEOGH ATHLONE TOURNAMENT 2012

U10 Girls
Congratulations to our youngest team, the U10 girls on winning the Tommy Keogh Athlone Tournament last weekend. This was the first time the club has won this tournament which had all the top Midland clubs taking part. The young girls played three games to qualify for the Final, beginning with a victory over Kestrels. Maedhbh O Brien and Hannah Dooley showed some great determination and were ably assisted by the impressive Emma Glavin and Lucy Fennelly in this game. A tough second game against home club Athlone followed. Good baskets from Emma Hand, Aoife Farrell and Sarah Jane Lynam were needed to secure victory 14-8. Emma Beatty and Eimear Cullen fought hard for any loose ball in their third game against Clonaslee. Confident performances from Mia O Mahoney and Katie Bourke along with the superb defending of Ellie Glavin and the top class shooting of Kate Healy saw Tullamore home 20-8. The Final was played on the full court in the Bower School with 10ft baskets, so scores were at a premium. All the Tullamore girls had to work hard to cover the court in the high intensity encounter with Clonaslee. A 2 point lead at half time looked slender but a late basket in the final quarter saw Tullamore home amid wild cheers from their supporters. The Tullamore girls were presented with medals before the hard working Shauna Slattery proudly accepted the magnificent trophy from Ronan Keogh on behalf of the team.

ALL IRELAND u14 FINALISTS

Under 14 Girls claim All Ireland Bronze

The first team ever from Tullamore Basketball Club to qualify for the All Ireland Club Championships performed very well against a very high standard of opposition and came away with bronze medals.Big attendances from all over Ireland watched the games during the tournament which took place in Portarlington last weekend. The Tullamore girls were drawn to play in pool D with two of the strongest teams in the country. First of all they played Killenkere who eventually lost the Division 1 final by 2 points and then they played Meteors of Dublin who won the Division 2 title on the Sunday. The girls were not disheartened and played well in both games. On Saturday night they took on Kiltimagh Giants in the division 3 semi final and looked to be coasting at half time when Tullamore led by 5 points 18-13. The Kiltimagh girls were not fiinshed though and showed why they are Mayo champions by storming back to take an 8 point lead with three minutes left on the clock. Tullamore then really showed their mettle by fighting back to a 2 point deficit in the last minute. Tullamore turned over the Kiltimagh ball but unfortunately it ran out of play to save Kiltimaghs bacon. The Mayo girls managed a final score near the buzzer to win 33-29. Tullamore played Sligo Giant Warriors in a consolation game on the Sunday and then were presented with their All Ireland Bronze medals. A notable achievement for a team which has some girls who have not played the game for a full year yet. All at Tullamore Basketball are proud of them all and look forward to many successful years ahead.

UNDER 14 TEAM

MAISIE CURRAMS, ELLEN HENRY, EMILY BAILEY, REBECCA O MAHONEY, CHLOE HARTE, AILBHE BYRNE, KATIE KEHOE, BRID MOLYNEAUX,AISLING FOX, AMY GALVIN, CAOIMHE GUINAN, MUIREANN MCDAID, AOIFE SPAIN, AOIBHEANN O MAHONEY RACHAEL DUNNE (CAPTAIN)

UNDER 18 MIDLAND LEAGUE WINNERS 2010/11 with coach Enda McCabe

Latest News

FINAL FOUR RESULTS

Apr 28, 2013, 7:37 pm

Final Four Weekend 2013

The Midland League basketball season drew to a close last weekend with a flurry of games at underage level in the Final Four competitions. First into action were the under 14 girls who were drawn against League winners Kestrels in the semi-final. All 14 young girls put in a big effort but were no match for a strong Kestrels outfit. Next up were the under 14 boys who again had to compete with league winners Gliders in the semi-final. The boys kept pace with the recently crowned Division 3 All Ireland champions until half time before the Kildare side pulled away. The vast majority of both boys and girls u14 teams are underage again next year so hopes are high for next season. The under 18 boys faced up to Portlaoise for the fifth time this season in their semi-final on Friday night. Having only lost by a maximum of 3 points in their four previous encounters hopes were high that the boys in blue could turn the tables on this occasion. Unfortunately it was not to be as the panthers side buoyed by a vociferous home support ran out 15 point winners. On Saturday night many of the boys involved in the u18 semi-final turned out for the u20 side in an attempt to turn the tables on Portlaoise. At half time with the scores were close 24-27 and with Tullamore trailing by 3, it was all to play for, but once again the loud home support willed the Laois boys over the line in the second half. The under 16 boys were next up and also gave a good account of themselves on Saturday going down against a strong Gliders side in their semi-final. Commiserations to Coaches Mareks Matulis and Rob Bailey and their team on their gallant effort. With all other teams suffering defeats, the under 16 girls team were in no mood to be complacent against the Athlone team in their semi-final on Saturday following the boys game. Foul trouble cost the Athlone side, and at the end Tullamore ran out winners by 35-21 qualify for the Midland Final on the Sunday. Maisie Currams with 13 and Rebecca O Mahoney on 10 top scored. The finals day took place in Portlaoise last Sunday. A large attendance had gathered to watch all the finals and Tullamore were extremely proud to be represented by their u16 girls. Tullamore were neck and neck with their opposition until just before half time when Kestrels introduced their ace u14 player who turned the game in their favour. Tullamore were defeated despite some extremely notable performances from many players. After the game captain Rachael Dunne led her team up to receive league and cup runners up medals. A great achievement to follow u14 runners up medals with u16 medals in successive seasons.

Community Games Basketball

The season has not quite ended for some of our other underage teams as the Under 13 girls and Under 11 mixed County Community Games finals will be played next Thursday evening in Colaiste Choilm. Tullamore North will play Mucklagh/Rahan/Island in both finals and Tullamore Basketball Club will have members on all 4 teams involved, good luck to all. Match timetable as follows: 6pm U11 mixed Final, 7pm U13 girls final, 8pm Medal Presentation, 8:15 U13 Boys Friendly Tullamore BC v MRI. All support welcome.

FINAL FOUR WEEKEND HERE AT LAST!

Apr 21, 2013, 7:29 pm

Final Four Tournament

The biggest weekend of the juvenile basketball season takes place next week. This season’s Final Four Cup Tournament will be hosted by Portlaoise BC in St Marys Hall and will take place this week from the 25^th-28^th April. The action gets under way for Tullamore with the u14 girls taking on league winners Kestrels in Portarlington at 6pm on Thursday 25^th. Their game will be followed at 7:15 by the U14 boys who take on All Ireland Division 3 Champions Kildare Gliders.

On Friday 26^th Coach Sean Mealiffe leads his U18 boys team against Portlaoise in the semi-final at 6pm in St Marys Hall. Then on Saturday 27^th the U16 boys team take on Gliders at 3pm in Portlaoise followed by the U16 Girls team who play Athlone in their semi-final at 4:15pm. The U20 boys will round off a full day of action with their semi-final against Portlaoise at 8pm. Should any of our sides win their respective semi-finals they will play on Finals day Sunday 28^th. Al Finals in St Marys Hall Portlaoise. It would be great if we could see as much support as possible for all our teams over the weekend. Best wishes are extended to all the teams and hopefully the games will be enjoyed by all.

U10 Boys

Well done to Mark, Catherine and the u10 boys team on competing in the Portlaoise blitz last Sunday, It was a great finish to their season. Thanks to Portlaoise BC for the invitation.

Schools Basketball

Colaiste Choilm First Year team hosted a series of All Ireland playoff games last Sunday. They defeated Granard and Scoil Iognaid Galway before going down to Mohill which meant they did not progress to the All Ireland Semifinal by virtue of score difference. Well done to the team and coach Liam O hOistin.

Sacred Heart second years and Coach Niamh McEnhill were also involved in All Ireland Playoffs in Galway against tough opposition St Louis Monaghan, Salerno of Galway and Letterkenny on Tuesday 23^rd April.

CLUB NEWS 17TH MARCH

Mar 17, 2013, 8:41 pm

LATEST RESULTS

The final rounds of the league competition were played over the last fortnight with mixed results for the Tullamore underage teams. The under 20 boys and under 14 girls lost both their fixtures to Portlaoise and Kestrels while the u12s lost narrowly to Portlaoise by one basket and to Clonaslee. The U16 girls won both their games against Portlaoise and Clonaslee while the U16 Boys also defeated Portlaoise. The Senior team had an extremely poor turnout for their latest game and lost to Old leighlin of Carlow.

LEAGUE STANDINGS

At the finish of the league the following are the final position in their respective leagues for all our teams: U20 Boys 3^rd, U18 boys 3^rd, U16 Boys 3^rd , U14 boys 4^th, U12 Boys 5^th, U16 Girls 2^nd, U14 Girls 4^th, U12 Girls 5^th. The Final Four Cup Tournament will take place on the weekend of the 26^th-28^th April in Portlaoise for all teams that have qualified.

SCHOOLS BASKETBALL

The Sacred Heart Second Year team and the Colaiste Choilm First Year team competed in the Midland Regional Schools Finals last Friday in Portlaoise. The First Year boys won their final over Knockbeg College with a team that included a number of club players. Edvinas Roscenkovas scored 22 of their 28 points. The SHS lost a triple overtime thriller to Chriost Ri Portlaoise. Both Tullamore teams have qualified for the All Ireland qualifying Play-offs after Easter.

CLUB NEWS March 10th 2013

Mar 3, 2013, 7:42 pm

Senior Men

The seniors were handed a walkover from Longford Falcons on Saturday last.

U14 Boys

The under 14 boys suffered two home defeats in Colaiste Choilm last Sunday to Portlaoise and league winners Gliders. Edvinas Roscenkovas with 18 topscored against Portlaoise while Cathal Kavanagh hit 8 and Shane Enright also scored. In the Gliders game Tadhg Phelan, Cian O Mahoney and Ciaran Farrell also got on the score sheet. The under 14s have a final four semi-final against Gliders to look forward to at the end of April.

U18 Boys

Tullamore u18s secured two victories over Naas during the last fortnight to finish the league in third place. They were also defeated by Kestrels. The U18s will play Portlaoise in the semi finals of the Final Four in Portlaoise at the end of April.

U12 Boys.

The under 12 boys finished their season with a win over Gliders despite having only six players. Unfortunately they did not qualify for the Final Four.

U10 Girls

The under 10 girls sent 2 teams to a blitz in Clonaslee where both teams had 4 games. They all played well and enjoyed the day. Thanks to Clonaslee BC for organising it and providing refreshments.

Fixtures: Saturday 9^th March U20 Boys v Kestrels at 10am and Portlaoise at 11:30 in Colaiste Choilm. U16 Girls v Portlaoise and Clonaslee in Athlone, Sunday 10^th March U16 Boys v Clonaslee and Portlaoise in Athlone. U14 Girls v Kestrels and Portlaoise in Portarlington.

CLUB NEWS 17TH FEBRUARY

Feb 17, 2013, 6:51 pm

U14 Girls

The u14 girls lost one and won one in Colaiste Choilm last Sunday. An excellent Clonaslee team were too strong for the Tullamore girls, although baskets from Sarah Kehoe, Aoibheann O Mahoney and Aisling Lydon brought them back in the final quarter before going down 20-41. A much improved all round performance by the girls gave them victory over Athlone 41-22 in the second game. A notable feature of the game was that seven different girls got on the scoresheet. Chloe Harte led the way with 14 along with Muireann McDaid on 6 and Kate Fox with 5 points.

U12 Girls and Boys

The under 12 girls were short some girls last weekend and lost their games against Athlone and Gliders. The under 12 boys were hit by a bout of flu and had to travel to Kilcullen with just 5 players. The lads did their best going down to Kestrels and Athlone.

Fixtures U18 boys v Naas at 10am and v Kestrels at 11:30am followed by u10 boys blitz at 3pm, all in Portlaoise on Sunday 24^th February. The Senior mens team play Carlow IT in Colaiste Choilm at 6:15 on Saturday 23^rd February. All support appreciated.