Portlaoise Panthers secure home quarter-final in Under 18 Men’s National Cup

PORTLAOISE Panthers can look forward to a home quarter-final in this season’s Billy Coffey Under 18 Men’s National Cup after they recently emerged winners from their qualification tournament.

Playing host to this competition in St Mary’s Hall, Portlaoise remained unbeaten right the way through, as they topped Pool 2A before surmounting UCD Marian 77-51 in the semi-finals and then Limerick Lions in the decider 76-55.

The Laois side opened up their campaign with a hard-fought triumph over St. Mary’s Castleisland, who served up a stunning fourth-quarter comeback to force overtime, only to see their hosts prevail 76-70 in the end.

Jayden Umeh served up a huge 28 points, while Justice and Prince Iheme combined for a further 33 in a game that saw Panthers open up a 16-point lead by the close of the third quarter.

But, driven on by Joey Kelly and Jamie Nolan, who totalled 47 points between them, St. Mary’s managed to haul themselves back on to level terms at 64 points apiece, the former draining a huge three with just six seconds of regulation time remaining to square the tie.

Yet Portlaoise demonstrated superb resolve in overtime, Umeh and Prince Iheme serving up ten points in that period to help haul their side over the line.

It was a far more comfortable affair for Panthers in their next outing as they ran out 67-33 winners over Sligo All-Stars, Desmond Ogedegbe and Jack Gilnagh making their presence felt with a combined 22 points, while Umeh drained three buckets from beyond the arc on his way to a haul of 18.

They made it three from three in the pool by way of another convincing 84-44 victory over Ennis Rockets, whom they confined to just six points in the opening quarter, in which time they racked up 19.

The home side continued on to take the next three quarters also, Echezona Onuorah putting in an impressive shift with a game-high 23 points, as Gilnagh and Aaron McCormack, together, weighed in with a further 18.

Topping their pool, Portlaoise booked themselves further passage to the last four of the qualification tournament where they were pitched against Pool 2B runners-up UCD Marian.

A devastating opening quarter, in which they outgunned their Dublin rivals by 23 points, laid the groundwork for a 77-51 success, Prince Iheme leading their charge with 21 points, and Ogedegbe contributing an additional 17.

That propelled them through to the decider where they faced off again a Limerick Lions outfit that had enjoyed a comfortable 71-49 victory over St. Mary’s Castleisland in their respective semi-final.

Once again, Portlaoise hit the ground running, as they opened up a 26-11 cushion by the close of the first quarter before continuing on to take the next two periods.

Ogedegbe was superb, amassing a huge 28 points, while Price Iheme (21), Umeh (14) and Justice Iheme (11) also finished in double digits.

That served to more than counter the big hitters for Limerick in Fred Kilmas and Jake Moore who totalled 36 between them, securing Portlaoise home advantage for the quarter-finals.

“It was a savage weekend,” remarked Portlaoise head coach, Jack Scully. “We won five out of five to secure a home quarter-final, so that was great.” “All the lads played really well, with the stand-out performers being Prince, Jayden, Desmond and Justice,” he added.

This Portlaoise team will be hoping to extend their unbeaten run in this competition when they face off against Neptune in the quarter-finals at the end of the month.

The Cork side also enjoyed a strong run in their qualifiers, chalking up pool wins over Mallow BC and Fr. Mathews to secure their place in the semi-finals where they came up against Tolka Rovers and edged a thrilling four-point victory.

That set them up for a qualification final against an Oblate BC team that had already beaten them in their first game of the campaign, and again, it was the Dubliners who prevailed, winning out 58-50 to earn home advantage.

PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Senan O’Brien, Justice Iheme, Mark Delaney, Scott Davis, Jim Hanamy, Jayden Umeh, Prince Iheme, Echezona Onuorah, Borna Jozic, Ben Quigley, Sami Ahmed, Ciaran Daly, Desmond Ogedegbe, Aaron McCormack, Jack Gilnagh.