Portlaoise Panthers ladies help Ireland to silver and bronze on FIMBA World Championship stage

PORTLAOISE Panthers Basketball Club were proudly represented at this month’s FIMBA Maxibasketball World Championships in Ticino, Switzerland, with five of the seven competitors they boasted on various Ireland masters squads making the podium at this year’s tournament.

While Attracta Phelan lined out for the Over 40 Women’s national squad that captured bronze, the Laois club saw no less than four of their members play a huge part in helping the Ireland Over 45 Women’s team to silver.

Indeed, Catherine Ashe co-captained that side, along with Ellie Curran of St. Vincent’s, and she was joined in that unforgettable campaign by Panthers clubmates, Ann-Marie Troy and Deirdre and Gráinne Tomlinson.

Also flying the flag for Portlaoise were Greg Dunne and Eugene Walsh, who were part of the Ireland Over 50 Men’s team that finished up 14th overall.

The Ireland Over 45 women’s team had a tough start to their campaign, losing out to a German ladies’ first side (64-49) that would ultimately deny them again when they met in the title decider eight days later.

Yet, after such an inauspicious start in Pool C, Sergio Fernandez’s side bounced back with an emphatic 111-31 demolition of Brazil B and a hard-fought 68-54 victory over Ukraine that set them up for a Last 16 encounter with Germany MWO.

A blistering opening quarter that saw them race 17 points in front, laid the groundwork for a 53-36 success, in which Denise Walsh served up a game-high 23 points, with Ashe weighing in with seven.

Ireland demonstrated great resilience against hosts, Switzerland in the quarter-finals, turning an eight-point deficit at the close of the first quarter into a 70-46 victory, Walsh again spearheading their offence with 32 points, while Ashe also hit double figures on 13.

Even more tenacity was required when they faced Brazil A in the penultimate rounds, Ireland battling back from six points down with just over a minute remaining to force overtime and pip the South Americans to a 78-73 victory, Ashe emerging her side’s top scorer on 21 points.

It was a strength-sapping contest and one that came just a day before the final against Germany, who just had more in the tank, as they surged to a 71-51 victory and, with it, tournament gold.

Still, scooping silver was a remarkable achievement for this collection of Ireland players, many of whom had helped Ireland Women’s Over 40s to a ninth-place finish at the FIMBA Maxiball European Basketball Championships in Italy only last year.

“It was just so hard to process,” remarked Ashe upon her return home from Switzerland. “We were really never thinking, going out there, that we would get any kind of medal, so to come home with silver and actually being in a World final, it was really special.

“I think our final was maybe against Brazil in the semis when we were down six points and we managed to pull it back.

“The feeling after that was just absolutely incredible. And going back to the hotel where the other Irish teams were there to welcome us back, that was a really special moment.

“In the final, we met the German team that we played in the first game, so we knew what we were facing and we knew that we'd have to be at the top of our game to beat them.

“We knew we had a chance, but they were an immense team. I just wish we had one more day after the semi-final, just to re-group and get going again.

“But to win silver was an incredible achievement. You’re in a bubble for 10 days and it's so mentally and emotionally draining. Seven games and you’re absolutely spent by the end of it all.

“Our coach, Sergio was absolutely incredible, not just as a coach, but also as a person. To be able to bring all these individuals together and create a team, it was just brilliant” she told the *****Laois Nationalist****.

World Championship bronze medallist and clubmate, Attracta Phelan echoed those sentiments in the wake of her unforgettable experience with an Ireland Over 40 Women’s team that suffered just one defeat in their entire campaign in Switzerland - that coming against eventual champions, Italy in the semi-finals (73-48).

It was all South American opposition for them in Pool A, Chile providing a serious test in their opening contest, from which they emerged 55-34 winners.

That was followed by far more emphatic victories over Brazil B (88-28) and Colombia (102-15) that set them up a titanic battle with Great Britain in a Last 16 game that they clinched 58-50.

A strong start against Estonia in the quarter-finals saw Ireland race 13 points clear, but that gap was reduced to four by the half-time recess.

Ireland, however, edged the next two quarters to earn a 43-34 win that propelled them through to the last four where they took on a hugely impressive Italian side that denied them further passage, as they ran out 73-48 winners.

Italy continued on to beat Germany 61-45 in the final, while Ireland faced Mexico in the battle for bronze, which they secured after clawing their way back from six points down at the break to prevail 55-45, Neasa O’Keeffe leading the way with a haul of 18 points.

Delighted at helping see Ireland reach the podium for a second time at this tournament, Phelan exclaimed “It was unbelievable. It was like a dream tournament.

“We started out training as a team in January and we never would have envisaged getting a medal position in the tournament.

“We had four returning members from last year's Over 40s team that participated in the European Championships, one of them being the team captain, Amanda O’Regan.

“We had the same management team as well and, really, I think their experience, their knowledge really stood to us in the knockout stages.

“They had played Great Britain and Estonia last year and we had them in the last 16 game and we had them in the quarter-final in the World Championships. There were a lot of familiar faces, a lot of the same tactics and everything, so we really had the advantage there.

“We had a tough semi-final against Italy and they went on to win gold, so it was of some consolation that the only game we lost in the tournament was to the eventual champions.

“Against Mexico, we really dug it out as a team to get that bronze medal. We could hear from the other hall that the 45s had won silver, so we were like, yeah, we're definitely coming back with a medal as well.

“We had a fantastic bunch of 12 ladies, a lot of them I long admired both on and off the court, and it's a bucket-list thing to play basketball on the international stage at our level.

“This was my first cap this year. I would have tried out last year and it just didn't work out for me, but then this year I said look, it's now or never.

“Definitely, with the introduction of the Over 40s team, I think there were eight girls who moved up to 45 level, so I knew then that there could be a position for me in the 40s.

“I tried out again and I didn't regret it. It just goes to show that when there's an opportunity, you just have to go and try to take it” she stressed.

Her Portlaoise clubmates, Greg Dunne and Eugene Walsh also enjoyed some fine moments with the Ireland Over 50 Men’s team in Switzerland, bouncing back from an agonising one-point defeat (75-74) in their opening game against Australia with a thrilling 82-77 triumph over Italy B in their next Pool H game, only to be undone by Germany A 69-49 in the Last 16.

And in their classification games, the team recorded a 62-46 success against Austria before another reversal at the hands of Australia (54-43) resulted in them taking 14th place.