The Panthers U16 National League Boys were down in Perth today as they took on Dundee Madsons and Grampian Flyers. Panthers fielded a new look team with some Fraserburgh Storm players joining for the season.
First up was Madsons. Despite Panthers’ obvious height advantage, they struggled, and within minutes were down 10-4. Madsons speed and mid range shooting gave Panthers a lot to deal with. The post work of Matty Kiraly eventually saw Panthers get into the game and they took complete control, winning the first quarter 14-10. In the second quarter, Panthers again struggled to close out shots with Madsons hitting 2 threes and a long range 2 pointer in quick succession. The always reliable Panthers trio of Fergus Cran, Lewis Ross, and Matty Kiraly, slowed things down and took control of the game once more with Fergus dominating rebounds on both ends of the court. Panthers went into half time up by 6.
The half time break seemed to revitalise Panthers as they got off to a solid start. The help defence forced Madsons into numerous mistakes, and the link up play of new boys Lyubomir and Nathan proved invaluable to what was a great quarter. Some more work in the post from Matty saw Panthers up by 20 going in to the fourth. Panthers saw the game out strong and in style with lethal fast break offence and some individual moves from Fergus. This gave the boys their first win at National League and gave them confidence for the Flyers game in the afternoon.
FINAL SCORE PANTHERS 61-47 MADSONS
Top scorers: Matty Kiraly 23, Lyubomir Pishtiyski 11, Lewis Johnston 8
Despite the mornings win the boys knew they’d need to up their game to beat local rivals, Grampian Flyers. Panthers got off to a slow start which saw Flyers go up 6-0 and Panthers gave away 3 fouls in the first 2 minutes. Panthers kept calm and slowly got into the game as they played hard defence and went to the rim strong on offence. A tight first quarter ended 13-11 to Flyers. Panthers took their foot off the gas in the second and started turning the ball over time and time again. A patient Flyers team waited for the gaps in the defence to appear and they took full advantage of this as they won the quarter and went into half time up 34-23.
As always, Panthers came out blazing on both ends after the half time. The aggressive and rough offence and defence frustrated Flyers big time as they began to foul hard and get themselves in trouble. Fergus took control of the team under heater circumstances and led the comeback. Panthers closed the gap to just 2 points, but with 10 seconds to go in the third Flyers scored an open layup and Panthers were disheartened. In response Lyubomir ran up court and sank a deep three making it a one point game with one quarter left. At the start of the fourth, the game was much the same. The lead changed hands throughout the quarter but always staying within 1 or 2 points. Panthers aggressive defence was proving hard to break down, Matty stepped up with block after block and protected the paint giving Flyers nothing easy. Despite this, an experienced Flyers team saw the game out, and former Panther, Eli Methven, went on a 8 point run in the last 2 minutes to see the game out for Flyers. Overall it was a great game for all spectators, and no one could’ve asked more from the boys today.
FINAL SCORE FLYERS 57-52 PANTHERS
Top scorers: Lyubomir Pishtiyski 23, Matty Kiraly 14, Nathan Buchan 8
