Portlaoise show plenty of promise in Under 16 Boys AICC

PORTLAOISE Panthers’ Under 16 Boys team produced a solid showing on the AIG All-Ireland Club Championship stage in Gormanston Park last weekend, winning two of their three pool games to reach the Division B quarter-finals where they were undone by eventual title winners, St Brendan’s.

The Laois side bounced back from a sluggish start to this tournament that saw them lose out to Drogheda Wolves before getting back on track with victories over Mulroy Hoops and Clare Comets to reach the last eight of the second tier.

Drogheda took every quarter in that competition opener against Panthers, restricting their opponents to single figures in three of those periods as they secured a 47-28 victory.

Justice Iheme and Noah Barbour managed 14 points between them, but it was not enough to really trouble their Louth rivals for whom Seán Phelan and Arnau Ballester Ferrandis totalled 23.

Yet the Laois side hit back in convincing fashion in their following Group Five fixture, producing impressive second and third-quarter runs that helped see them outgun Mulroy Hoops 51-22 Iheme and Ben Quigley carded 12 points apiece for the Laois side, while Barbour finished up just one shy of those totals as Panthers got off the mark.

And they carried that momentum into their Group Five finale against Clare Comets, who were held to single digits in every quarter, as Portlaoise ran out convincing 61-20 winners.

Yet again, they inflicted the bulk of the damage throughout the middle two quarters, during which they outscored their opponents by 30 points, Iheme and Barbour leading the offensive line with a combined 27, the latter draining three attempts from beyond the arc.

Prince Iheme (9 points) and Jim Hanamy (7) also made their presence felt as Panthers secured themselves a date with St. Brendan’s in the last eight of Division B on Sunday morning.

Yet that game was to mark the end of the line for Portlaoise as they found themselves facing a 20-point deficit at the half-time recess.

And while, they gained some traction in the second half, even managing to hold their opponents scoreless for the entire third quarter, they were unable to make up the lost ground, eventually falling to a 47-38 defeat.

Prince Iheme and Ben Quigley both finished in double digits with 12 and 10-point hauls respectively, but St. Brendan’s did enough to see this one out, helped, no end, by the 27 points that Brooklyn Conway and Daniel Spring totalled.

The Tralee side continued on to lift the Division B crown, beating Dundalk Ravens 50-43 in the penultimate rounds before edging a 50-46 victory over Sligo All-Stars in the decider.

“There was so much learning from those championships,” said Portlaoise Panthers heads coach, Donna O’Connell.

“In the second and third game on Saturday I've never seen them play as well. They were unbelievable and every single player stepped up on the court.

“We just had an up-and-down weekend, but the two teams we did lose to are strong. St. Brendan’s who we lost to in the quarter-finals actually ended up winning Division B.

“And even in that game, our players showed great determination to push back to hold Brendan’s to zero points in the third quarter.

“Their defence was unbelievable in that third quarter and they kept on working and working. They have the ability to keep coming back, but they need to be doing it from the beginning,” she stressed.

Last weekend’s solid showing on the All-Ireland stage capped a fine season for this Panthers outfit, which has enjoyed Midland League and Top Four success.

And O’Connell insists there is more to come from her players, telling the *****Laois Nationalist****: “There's a mix on this team between half of the boys who are up to the age of Under 16 and the other half who are actually Under 15.

“Those older boys have got great experience, and then there's half of this team who are still positioned to go and do this again next year” she added.

PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Sami Ahmed, Justice Iheme, Sochima Onuorah, Ben Heffernan, Jim Hanamy, Ben Quigley, Senan O’Brien, Sam Devenney, Prince Iheme, Borna Jozic, Noah Barbour, Senan O’Connell, Giovanni Osadolor.