Portlaoise Panthers under 20's hit the ground running

The Panthers basketball club have put their U20 boys team into the men's senior Midland Area league in an effort to give them more game time and make that transition from juvenile into the senior game. They have hit the ground running with a 14 win in their first game away against Athlone Midland TUS and in this their second game they played host to Kildare Gliders at St Mary's hall last weekend.

Portlaoise Panthers 66

Kildare Gliders 49

U20 Mens Midlands Area League

Portlaoise started the better with early baskets from Glenn Comerford and Astijus Zemaitis. Both teams were playing well, exchanging baskets, Kristian Gormley went to work inside to get a couple of fine scores. Kildare began to miss a few of their opportunities while the home team kept the scoreboard ticking over with fine shooting from the Gormley brothers Kristian and Conor. Kildare were playing well but were unlucky with their final shot as a couple rimed out.

Portlaoise on the other hand were making the most of their opportunities with great baskets from Cormac Rafter and Astijus Zemaitis who got 10 points in this quarter alone to help his team to a 12 point lead. The first couple of minutes of the second quarter continued much the same as the first with both teams playing well, exchanging baskets, Adam Mulally checked into the game and made an immediate impact with great stops on the defensive end.

The Panthers lads were enjoying themselves at this stage as they went on an eight point run with baskets from their Captain Glenn Comerford. A time out for the Kildare men settled them as they came back to get a couple of good baskets to reduce the gap but the home team continued playing well through Sam Wynne and Conor Gormley. The halftime whistle could not come quick enough for the Kildare team as Portlaoise were now in full flow with baskets from Astijus Zemaitis and Kristian Gormley to open up a 16 point lead at the break.

The second half started well for both teams with both putting points on the scoreboard. Astijus Zemaitis and Cormac Rafter kept the home team ticking over with some fine shooting. As the quarter went on Portlaoise tightened the defensive end and took more control of the game as Kildare were forced to take some tough shots with Sam Wynne and Adam Mulally rebounding well.

The Panthers lads also kept the scoreboard ticking over to maintain their lead with fine scores from Kristian Gormley and Astijus Zemaitis who would eventually be top scorer of the game with an excellent 30 points. The last quarter saw Kildare up the tempo with strong man to man defensive in an effort to bridge the gap and they were successful in getting turnovers which resulted in good scores.

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This was their best spell of the game as Portlaoise seem to lose concentration for a couple of minutes and the gap came down to 10 points but that was as good as it got for the Kildare team as Portlaoise got back to scoring ways with good baskets from Glenn Comerford and a big three pointer from Cormac Rafter that seemed to take the heart out of the Kildare run. The last few minutes were played out with the home team dominating to maintain their lead with Astijus Zemaitis and Conor Gormley getting the last couple of baskets to help his team go on to a well deserved win.

Coach Alan Comerford was delighted with his teams performance thats see them with two wins from two games but he knows that their is bigger tests ahead as they continue to make the transition into the senior leagues.

Portlaoise team: Sam Wynne, Tom Gbenoba, Glenn Comerford, Astijus Zemaitis, Conor Gormley , Kristian Gormley, Aaron Dooley, Adam Mulally, Bright Osadolor, Cormac Rafter, Dylan Cahill, Favour CHimere Fred, Luke Thompson

Coach: Alan Comerford.

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