September review
What a month for Cork County Basketball Board, we opened our season with the Under 18 Michael Heffernan Tournament which took place at the Parochial Hall and Neptune Stadium where twenty of the best teams in the Country competed in one of our most prestigious tournaments. Our games tipped off at 9 a.m. with Neptune v Limerick Celtics, Fermoy v Eanna beginning proceedings in the stadium and Blue Demons v St. Brendan and U.C.D. Marian v Maree in the Parochial Hall.
Supporters in attendance at both venues were treated to some exciting and high scoring basketball during the pool games and as we entered late afternoon we had our quarter-final matchups, a Dublin derby between Killester and Tolka Rovers, Portlaoise Panthers met Maree, Limerick Celtics and the last of these St. Brendan’s and Oblates. An exciting game through which was decided by last second free throws. Our semi-finals match ups saw Limerick Celtics beat Killester and Portlaoise Panthers get the better of Oblates. At the beginning of the tournament, it looked like Limerick Celtics might not get out of their group but they started the final on absolute fire with Michael Cleary to fore both in the first and second quarters and it saw Limerick Celtics lead on a scoreline of 31 to 19. Again, Portlaoise started slowly, coach Jack Scully took a quick time out in effort to stem the tide, whatever was said seem to stem the flow as they reduced the lead from twelve to seven. Within the break at the quarter coach Scully reinforce what was required from his team at the defensive end and held Limerick Celtics to two points and achieved a comeback win on a scoreline of 47 points to 48. Jayden Umeh whilst good in the final was awarding the M.V.P. for his performances throughout the tournament.
The board and its team of volunteers did not have time to rest as matters moved quickly on to the Cork Super league championship, this year held in Mardyke Area. Our thanks to U.C.C. for facilitating us this year. This year our third since its reestablishment saw us hold two semifinals between the Cork clubs and we were delighted to welcome Tony Hehir and his Limerick Celtics team following their promotion last year. We were delighted to see a big crowd at our semi finals as Neptune took on Ballincollig and Celtics took on last years winners Blue Demons. Ballincollig and Blue Demons gained wins on the night and saw a repeat of last year's final, could the village stop a three in a row. Another healthy crowd attended the Mardyke Arena on the 12th of September, and saw Blue Demons retain the cup and achieve a three in a row success, Tala Fam starring on the night received the M.V.P. award and club captain Dave Lehane lifted the cup for a delighted Blue Demons.
The weekend did not start there as our charity tournament was ongoing as well. This popular initiative which has been introduced over the last years sees teams from all our senior leagues take part in a tournament which is based on a handicap points system. The board were delighted to support as usual our neighbours in the hall, Gurranbraher Meals on Wheels and our new recipients this year, Iris House-Cork Cancer Support. After games throughout Friday evening and all of Saturday, we ended up with Neptune White and Ballincollig in our final. This time Ballincollig Basketball were on the winning end of a final as Michael Lynch received the Cork Celts sponsored Charity tournament cup and Rory Flynn received the M.V.P. trophy from board register John Kelly. One other matter to note from the Charity tournament was the introduction of a new club to the Cork County Board as our newest club Mayfield Dynamos took part in their first ever game and tournament.
Our month continued on relentlessly as we then held our third tournament of the month, held across Neptune Stadium and Parochial Hall. Like the Michael Heffernan tournament we saw another action-packed day of basketball with Titans from Galway and Limerick Lions meeting in the final. For those in attendance during the day it was obvious to many that Titans were heading to the final. Lions who were excellent throughout the day probably had the harder route to the final, particularly their semifinal just did not have the energy to stay with Titans in the final. Between the power of their big men and the energy of M.V.P. Victor Teishev, Titans ran out double figure winners over the Lions. Our thanks in particular to John Kelly, Jim O’ Sullivan and Denis Crean who kept the show on the road throughout the day.
This non-stop month continued as big crowds attend the hall for the opening night of the 2025 /2026 leagues which included games that included old enemies Blue Demons and Neptune who went head to head in the Under 14 and 16 leagues and saw Tierna Kelly of Neptune score the first basket of our season.
What a month for the board and our new season, four finals under our belt and €8,000 received and donated to under 14trip and our charity recipients. Thanks to all our clubs, players for taking part. To the CCBOA referees who in particular gavetheir time free of charge for the charity tournament our thanks. Months like this are what makes Cork County Basketball and the board so special and if the rest of our season is this good it will be a great year.
