I'VE lost count of the times I've included piece of praise here for the people of this valley who contribute their time and energy for the betterment of their community.

Invariably, this involves people who spent every scrap of spare time on court and field with youngsters - and their contribution is surely close to incalculable.

There are times when bus and car horns blaze up and down the town in raucous acknowledgement. The odd bonfire at Fahadubh Cross provides a deeper, primeval salute to the returning heroes and their fresh laurels enveloped in their mechanical chariots.

This past weekend provided another amazing chapter in the sporting history of the valley as two basketball teams from the area brought All-Ireland glory back to their community.

A nice touch of class too by newly appointed Boys' National School principal, Denis Griffin – who brought a guard of honour of excited pupils from College Road to Hartnett's Corner on Friday morning to cheer the team bus on its way to Dublin. You'd wonder how many young minds aspired to be on that bus in a few years time as they marched back up the hill.

I asked St. Mary's PRO, Liz Galwey to pay her tribute to the latest batch of local heroes and she obliged as follows:

"What a weekend it was for St. Mary's Basketball Club, on Friday night the club's Under-18 men secured their first National Cup title and on Saturday Team Garvey's went on to bring the first Senior Men's Cup Title to the club.

The Under-18 squad played superb basketball throughout their game and never really gave their opponents a chance to get into the game. Declan Cahill netted the team's first seven points. Team captain, Seamus Brosnan pulled out all the stops and hit three pointer after three pointer. MVP for the game, Pádraig Lucey dominated the boards. Jack Kirwan made some great, late scores but all in all it was a huge team performance and great credit is due to all the lads and their coaches, Denny Porter and Mike Cronin.

The Under-18 squad is made up of the following players: Seamus Brosnan ( captain), Pádraig Lucey, Declan Cahill, Jack Kirwan, Denis Lenihan, Con O'Mahony, Donagh O'Connell, Tadhg O'Connell, Mike Hanifin, Pádraig O'Shea, Redmond Burke, Liam Lyons, Declan Breen and Shane Reidy.

Team Garvey's followed suit on Saturday with a performance that was not only skillful, but oozed determination and passion. The game was similar to Friday nights final in that when ever the opponent made an attempt to lessen the gap a player stepped up and popped in a three pointer to uplift the squad and keep them focused.

Again some huge performances were seen, team captain, the unstoppable Declan Wall controlled the game from the top of the key as always. Tom Fleming had his best game of the season so far, his shooting was on target every time, the mighty John Galvin justifiably picked up MVP. Viktoras Velykis was invaluable under the boards, player coach Brian Clernon brought his super-league experience to the floor when required. Maurice Casey did a brilliant job inside. Dan Griffin, Ruaraí O'Rahilly, Donal McCarthy, Michael Broderick, Liam Brosnan and Declan Cahill all contributed to what was a well deserved and long overdue victory for a bunch of lads who have been the pride of the parish for a long time. The win has been hard earned for some of the lads.

For Declan Cahill and Jack Kirwan it was extra special as the lads picked up two cup medals. It was also a historic weekend for Liam Brosnan as he is the first Kerry basketball player to have won a National Cup medal at U-19, Senior and Super League level.

Team Garvey's are the first Kerry team to bring the Senior Cup to the county.

Team Garvey's squad are as follows: Captain: Declan Wall, Donal McCarthy, Tom Fleming, Ruarai O'Rahilly, Liam Brosnan, Brian Clernon, John Galvin, Michael Broderick, Maurice Casey, Dan Griffin, Declan Cahill, Conor Brosnan, Joe Watson and Jack Kirwin.

On behalf of both teams and the club thanks to everyone who sent wishes of good luck and congratulations. Your support was greatly appreciated."