The Panthers U16 boys were in RDL action today at the beach as they took on Grampian Flyers and Granite City Flames.
Up first for Panthers was a young Flyers team. Panthers got off to a really slow start on offence with some sloppy play but they made up for it on the other end as they played excellent defence meaning a close quarter ended 8-4 to Panthers. Panthers came out strong on offence in the second quarter with some great team offence. The pick and roll link up of Matty Kiraly and Lewis Ross, along with the fast break option of Blair Leese, saw Panthers win the quarter a triumphant 19-7.
Panthers continued this play over into half time. Panthers offence began to drop again but the defensive rebounding and help defence saw them hold Flyers to a 0 point quarter. The fourth quarter saw Panthers make mistakes on both ends and a spirited Flyers team took full advantage of this as they won the last quarter 12-9.
FINAL SCORE: PANTHERS 41-24 GRAMPIAN FLYERS
TOP SCORERS: Matty Kiraly 18, Lewis Ross 10, Lewis Johnston 10
Next for Panthers was a tough game against Flames. Panthers struggled with the energy of Flames and the miscommunication on defence didn’t help the Panthers problems. Despite what seemed a disastrous quarter, the Panthers boys chipped away towards the end of the first to stay very much in the game. In the second quarter, Panthers knew they had to up the defence and the boys did this to great effect and limited Flames scoring. Panthers went into half time down by 10.
Despite the score Panthers upped the defence, the offence was still lacking but in the third quarter the boys made every possession count as they took complete control of the game and put Flames on the back foot. The aggressive offence of Lewis Ross and the offensive movement of Nathan Hall saw Panthers ease the third quarter and saw them cut Flames lead down to 6. Sadly this was the closest the game got. Panthers once again struggled with the energy of Flames, who kept calm and collected to score some important baskets to see out what was a great game.
FINAL SCORE: PANTHERS 29 – 43 FLAMES
TOP SCORERS: Lewis Ross 10, Lewis Johnston 7
League can be found here U16B NOS League
