Portlaoise take down Tipp to secure North Conference crown

ND AUDIT PORTLAOISE PANTHERS 88 

TIPP TALONS 73 

ND AUDIT Portlaoise Panthers turned a three-point half-time deficit into a 15-point victory over the in-form Tipp Talons that saw them subsequently lock down top spot in the Men’s Division One North Conference in St. Mary’s Hall on Friday night.

Tipp were coming into this tie having won three out of their previous four games and Joshua Reynolds did prove a handful with 24 points on the night.

But Panthers tightened up their defence in the second half, affording their opponents just 29 points in that period, while James Phelan took his tally to a game-high 26 points, 15 of which came from the free-throw line.

Eric Anderson and Davin McEvoy also made a significant impact with a combined 40 points, while Xabi Arriaga chipped in with a further 14.

Delighted at seeing his side secure the North Conference crown with four games to spare, Portlaoise head coach, Jack Scully said: “Last year we were playing right to the last game of the season before we knew where we were in play-offs, so this year, to have it locked up early and be able to use the next month to get better for the play-offs, I’m really happy.

“We had a rocky patch there around cup time and a couple of weeks after, but I felt last weekend we really got back to what we’re good at.

“Our strength is our depth. We’ve scores all over the floor that other teams don’t have, so we’re not an easy team to beat, and when we play as a team and we trust each other, I think we’re really effective.

“So the next month is about realising where our strengths are and really just honing in on that,” he added.

Portlaoise guard, James Phelan echoed those sentiments, saying “The next couple of games, of course we want to win, but it’s all about being at our standard for the play-offs.

“Tonight, we won the game, but it wasn’t our best by a long way, so now that our position is locked in at Number One in the North Conference, it’s just about getting ready and making sure we’re at the top of our game come play-offs.

“It took us about 20 minutes to get our own stuff right tonight, but once we got into our rhythm, we pulled away and the game was over.

“Tipp Talons are a great team and they’ve been playing great basketball recently. They’re coached very well, they’ve a lot of very good pros and they really put it up to us for the majority of the game,” he said.

Joshua Reynolds saw Tipp off the mark on Friday night with a delightful three and they remained out in front for the opening three minutes when Arriaga dropped an equally fine shot from beyond the arc for Portlaoise.

The visitors remained in close attention up until an eight-point run saw Panthers move six clear, McEvoy and Arriaga punishing from downtown.

Cillian O’Connell got in on the three-point act before McEvoy served up a deuce, but Tipp kept themselves well in touch as Miles Felletti-O’Donnell struck from distance and Sammy Bah picked up three from the free-throw line.

Panthers did have the final say in the opening quarter as Liam Kinsella struck from off the three-point line to leave his side 29-23 in front heading into the second quarter.

Tipp continued to snap at the heels of their hosts when they returned to action, and they eventually overtook when Matthew McHale executed from the paint with just over three minutes remaining in the first half.

There was still time for the lead to change hands four more times before the break, Reynolds draining three successive free throws and Justin Wickham adding another to see Tipp take a 44-41 lead into the interval.

Scully’s men, however, turned up the heat immediately after the restart, accounting for the opening nine points of the third, that included an ‘and one’ from McEvoy and a brilliant steal and dunk from Anderson that had the Portlaoise faithful in full voice.

The hosts also began to turn the screw defensively, restricting their opponents to just nine points in the third as they took a 60-53 cushion into the fourth.

And it was Phelan’s ruthlessness from the free-throw line that really killed off Tipp’s challenge down the stretch, the Portlaoise guard, draining every one of his 13 efforts from the line over the closing seven minutes to see his side pull clear.

ND AUDIT PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Cillian O’Connell, Dylan Dunne, James Phelan, Eric Anderson, Davin McEvoy, Kevin Donohoe, Xabi Arriaga, Aleksandar Kovacevic, Liam Kinsella.

Top Scorers: James Phelan (26), Eric Anderson (22), Davin McEvoy (18), Xabi Arriaga (14).

TIPP TALONS: Justin Wickham, Sammy Bah, Rian Broderick, Miles Felletti-O’Donnell, Matthew McHale, Niall Walsh, Adam Parker, Joshua Reynolds.

Top Scorers: Joshua Reynolds (24), Miles Felletti-O’Donnell (13), Sammy Bah (10).