Super League Basketball

Pyrobel Killester don’t have Jermaine Turner anymore, however they do have a new American star in their ranks. He’s a   6’ 5” guard who’s bounced back from adversity in college to begin his professional career in Ireland.   Unfortunately for ‘Rolls’ Royce, as he’s been nicknamed by his Killester team-mates, adversity had struck again as he picked up what looked like an achilles injury in the defeat to SSE Airtricity Moycullen a few weeks ago. However, Williams made a welcome return to the Killester line-up in their 90-78 defeat to Garvey’s Tralee Warriors at the end of October. Royce Williams grew up in Los Angeles, California in a tough neighbourhood, but Williams credits both his parents, and the game of basketball for putting his life on the right path. He said, “I started playing sports to stay out of trouble. My neighbourhood wasn't as bad as the media makes LA out to be but it had it's problems. When I was 12 I was fortunate enough to be accepted to a private school, w...

Basketball history was made on Saturday night in Calasanctius College in Oranmore as Maree won their first ever Men’s Super League game after a 102-100 shoot-out win over DCU Saints.  Irish Youth International point-guard Eoin Rockall was instrumental in the win scoring 36 points, which included 7-10 from 3-point range. Kenneth Hansberry had 17 points while American Jamelle Tolliver had 16.  For DCU Saints, their American star Dee Proby continued his hot scoring streak with 37 points, which also included a whopping 18 rebounds, and Graham Brannelly chipping in with 28. Maree Head Coach John Finn was delighted to finally get the monkey off his back, “We played very well and matched up well against DCU. We have basically set ourselves up for the past few games so that when we got a game that was close we would actually win it. I think tactically, we got it right.” On the history-making victory Finn said, “Yes, it’s the first win in the Super League for Maree Basketball C...

Point-Guard Erin Bracken won the Women’s Super League last season with Courtyard Liffey Celtics to crown a love affair with basketball since she was 9 years-old.   The 22 year-old from Leixlip explains, “I first started playing basketball when I was 9 years old, my mam brought me up to Liffey Celtics one day to give it a go and that was that, I've been in love with the game ever since.” Winning the league was the ultimate accolade but she says the losing the Cup Final was a huge turning point in their season, “We have been working extremely hard for years as a club to grow and improve, so to win the League last season was a great achievement for us. We were disappointed with our performance in the National Cup Final, that was a turning point for us as we managed to go the rest of the season unbeaten which really showed great character.” Erin took part in former Irish International Paul Cummins’ Sport Dream Academy (SDA) as both a player and a coach, and she feels that it playe...