Portlaoise storm past Ongar in Under 20 Men’s National Cup opener

PORTLAOISE Panthers have set up a date with Maree in the last 16 of the Under 20 Men’s National Cup following their 79-64 victory away to Ongar Chasers in Phibblestown Community Centre.

Team captain, Love Omoijade, together with Desmond Ogedegbe, Justice Iheme and Samuel Emmanuel all finished in double figures for a combined 64 points on the night, as Portlaoise served up a big first-half performance to effectively secure further passage.

Abdurrahman Musa, Gustas Svambarys, Robert Kenny and Aaron Carberry, did all hit double digits for Ongar by the final buzzer, but, finding themselves 28 points down at the half-time recess, the Dublin side had left themselves with too much to do in the second half.

Indeed, Portlaoise outgunned their hosts by 17 in the opening quarter, as Ogedegbe picked up 10, while Emmanuel and Omoijade added eight apiece, the latter continuing on to emerge the game’s top scorer on 25.

“We had a really good first half” said Portlaoise head coach, Aaron O’Neill. “We moved the ball well and dominated the paint, and everything just clicked for us.

“We did very well all over. Love was great. He had 25 points and just had a huge game, which is great to see from your captain.

“This is a group who have competed at Under 16, Under 18, Under 20, and now a lot of those guys are playing National League as well, so there's loads of experience, there's loads of talent there and we're really excited for this upcoming season.

“I'm confident we'll get a good run in the cup. We'll be hoping to try and get to a semi-final at least and then see where we go from there,” he told the *****Laois Nationalist*****.

Panthers accounted for the game’s opening five points before Glory Lebo and Kenny got Ongar up and running with a deuce apiece.

But a big 15-point run soon after saw Portlaoise take control, Omoijade and Iheme both landing impressive efforts from beyond the arc before Musa punctuated that surge with a much-needed treble for Ongar.

Ogedegbe added another bucket from downtown with ten seconds remaining in that first quarter to help see Portlaoise lead 33-16 heading into the second.

And the visitors continued on to race out of sight in that period, holding their opponents scoreless for more than nine minutes, during which time they put up a further 16 points without reply, Omoijade delivering from both sides of the arc, while Luke Kavanagh, Echezona Onurah and Ciaran Daly got in for more buckets.

Eoghan Kenny picked up deuce and an ‘and one’ for Chasers just ahead of the half-time break, but, by then, Portlaoise were sitting pretty on a 49-21 lead.

They accounted for the opening three points of the third, compliments of Giovanni Osadolor and Emmanuel, and, while Ongar refused to afford their guests the big runs they enjoyed in the first half, they were still unable to make any significant in-roads into the huge deficit that separated them.

Indeed, Panthers still led 65-43 heading into the final period, and a further 10 points between Omoijade and Ogedegbe helped see out a comfortable win for their side, despite their hosts managing to recoup a further seven before the close of proceedings.

Looking ahead to their upcoming clash with Maree in the next round, Portlaoise chief, O’Neill said: “They’ll be tough competition. They’re a big, strong physical team, so we'll definitely have to shoot well that day. It’ll be a good match-up.

“We're very happy with what we've seen from the team so far, but there's always things we can work on to move forward” he stressed.

Next up for O’Neill and his players will be the start of the Under 20 National League on Sunday 25 October when they entertain Ballina Braves.

Hoping that work on the floor of their home court in St. Mary’s Hall will be completed in time for that fixture, O’Neill said “It's supposed to be a home game, so it would be good to get a nice crowd down there and get the season up and going again with another win.” PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Justice Iheme, Luke Kavanagh, Brayan Desouza, Echezona Onurah, Love Omoijade, Darragh O’Loughlinn, Samuel Emmanuel, Noah Barbour, Ciaran Daly, Desmond Ogedegbe, Giovanni Osadolor.