Killorglin climb Division 1 table after back-to-back wins

MEN’S NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE Keanes Killorglin 73 Portlaoise Panthers 43

KEANES Supervalu Killorglin welcomed Portlaoise Panthers to the Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon for the first game in a double fixture weekend.

This game was very slow to get going with both teams struggling to find their range and it showed on the scoreboard - after three and a half minutes, the score was only 2-2. Both teams were making a lot of offensive errors and defence seemed to be a priority. However, Killorglin brought in Mark St Fort half way through the quarter and he made an immediate impact, with eight unanswered points. The score at the end of the first quarter was 20-14 in favour of Killorglin.

The second quarter was a similar story, with both teams struggling to get the ball in the hoop. Darragh Jones was finding some success for Killorglin under the boards, which was very positive for Keanes as Portlaoise are a big team. The half time score was Killorglin 39 Portlaoise Panthers 22.

The third quarter was the action quarter in this game. Croatian centre Ivan Bogdanovic made two huge defensive blocks to get the crowd on their feet, but the talking point was the ejection from the hall of Portlaoise player David Glynn for throwing Declan Wall to the floor in an off the ball incident. The third quarter score was Killorglin 53 Portlaoise Panthers 31.

The final quarter saw Killorglin, with a second game this weekend in mind, empty their bench but Portlaoise still couldn’t make any inroads and in the end, Killorglin ran our easy winners by 30 points.

TOP SCORERS

KEANES KILLORGLIN: Mark St Fort 13, Daniel Jokubaitis 10, Eoin O Sullivan 9

PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Tim Stewart 16, Geriminas Sevelis 8, Craig Scilly 7

Paris Texas Kilkenny 60 Keane’s Killorglin 75

KEANES Supervalu Killorglin hit the road on Sunday morning for a lunchtime tip off in the second match of their double header weekend.

Killorglin got off to a very quick start with three-pointers from Kevin Grey and Daniel Jokubaitis, and they were to maintain this early lead to the end of the quarter, going into the huddle with the score at 24-15.

The second quarter saw some errors being made by both teams, with a number of missed lay ups and close in jump shots. The highlight of the quarter was a dunk from Killorglins Ivan Bogdanovic. Half time score 37-25.

Killorglin put further distance between the teams, primarily through the outside shooting of Declan Wall and Kevin Grey, while Daniel Jokubaitis added his own slam dunk to the delight of the travelling fans. The third quarter score was Killorglin 58 Kilkenny 40.

Kilkenny came out in the third with all guns blazing and indeed, reduced the deficit to five points. However, Killorglins outside shooting once again proved the difference and they pulled away in the end to run out winners by 15 points.

TOP SCORERS

PARIS TEXAS KILKENNY: Taylor Young 22, James Butler 13, Lukasz Szulc 10

KEANES KILLORGLIN: Daniel Jokubaitis 26, Ivan Bogdanovic 17, Kevin Grey 10