Midlands League Boys Under 18 Top-Four Play-offs.
The u18 boys’ team qualified for the top-four play-offs by finishing second in the Midlands League top-flight behind table-toppers Portlaoise.
The semi-finals took place on Saturday with Portlaoise up against North Kildare, and Phoenix facing Athlone.
In Saturday’s semi-final, a strong performance from the team resulted in a 17-point victory. 57 points to 40. The other semi-final produced a comprehensive win for Portlaoise over the North Kildare Eagles.
The final between the league’s top two sides took place on Sunday, Portlaoise Panthers were hot favourites having completed the league double over Longford Phoenix.
However, a superb display by Phoenix in Sunday’s final put Portlaoise to the pin of their collar with the game only decided in the final seconds.
Despite a strong full court press from the Laois side, superb defending kept Portlaoise at bay. Phoenix successfully turned over the Panthers on several occasions and scored some good baskets on the fast break. Phoenix led 15 points to nine at first quarter time. Darragh Keavney scored 10 points for the Longford side in that first quarter.
Portlaoise Panthers turned things around in the second quarter, with three minutes of the half remaining, Panthers edged ahead 21 points to 20. By the half-time whistle, the lead had extended to five points, leading by 31 points to 26 at half-time.
Back came Phoenix in the third quarter with some excellent three-point baskets from downtown from Domas Vilys and Kacper Baran to regain the lead for Longford by 38 points to 36. The lead changed hands constantly for the remainder of the third quarter. Portlaoise narrowly ahead by 42 points to 40 at the end of the third quarter.
The last quarter was also very tight. Portlaoise built up a six-point lead at one stage, Phoenix got back to within a single point with just one minute and eleven seconds remaining, but despite putting them under severe pressure, Phoenix couldn’t get another score. Portlaoise broke on the counter to score the final basket with just under 30-seconds remaining to win an exciting contest by 57-54.
All-Ireland Under-16 Girls’ Club Championship Finals
Our u16 girls qualified for the division three All-Ireland finals with a top two finish in the Longford-Leitrim-Roscommon League. In their group at the weekend were Portlaoise Panthers, Sligo All Stars, and Queens.
Our first game against Queens resulted in a 34-18 defeat and Phoenix were also beaten in their second group game against Sligo All Stars by 39-13. The girl's final group game against the Portlaoise Panthers was a much tighter contest with Portlaoise edging it by 33-29.
Our Division three quarter-final on Sunday also ended in defeat with the Tipperary Knights winning out 37-17.
