LIMERICK LIONS ARE BACK TO FULL TRAINING FROM SUNDAY 4th September 2016!

New members welcome check our Facebook for more info http://www.facebook.com/limericklions

SUNDAY

u8 10:00 to 11:00

u10 11:00 to 12:30

u12 12:30 to 2:00

u14 2:00 to 3:30

u16 3:30 to 5:00

u18 5:00 to 6:30

MONDAY

u16 (2) 18:30 to 20:00

u16 (1) 20:00 to 21:30

TUESDAY

u14 18:30 to 20:00

Senior 20:00 to 21:30

WEDNESDAY

u18 20:00 to 21:30

THURSDAY

u16 (1) 20:00 - 21:30

u16 (2) 18:30 - 20:00

FRIDAY

u12 18:00 to 19:30

u18 19:30 to 21:00

SATURDAY

OPEN GYM Sessions

Any inquiries contact Harry Coyne 0879601049.

Limerick Lions u/16 game report Cork Cup v Limerick Lakers

Limerick Lions U/16 travelled to Cork last Sat to face Limerick Lakers in the Cork Cup and came away comfortable winners with a score of 55-18. Lions were always in control and led the 1^st qt by 16 – 4 with  Karolis Vitkaistis and Jack Coyne leading the scoring .The second qt saw the introduction of Eoghan O Donnell who pitched in two lovely jumpers .

Lions defence was picking off steals at will and ran a very effective fast break. Ian Campbell  and Cathal Morrissey controlled both offence and defence boards . Christian Ryan and Damien Hyrnezuk  and Conor Flynn played  very  well on defence . Lions pushed on to lead by 29 – 9 at half time , Coach Coyne was impressed with the way the squad ran their plays  with some great baskets scored .In fairness to Lakers they battled on but Lions were too strong for them  running out winners by 55-18. Next up is Ennis Panthers next Sun 2^nd Dec .

Nail Biter at St.Clements!!!!

On the last day of November, our U14 Lions boys took to the court to face yet another strong opponent from Cork. It was Fr.Matthews from Douglas that would provide the opposition for what was to be an absolute nail biting experience for all present in St.Clements College Gym.

Our Lions boys were seeking revenge for a one basket overtime defeat to Fr.Matthews at the start of the season. With this in the back of the player’s minds, they came out of the blocks very strong and took an early lead. The reliable combination of Joey Byrne and Nathan Moore proved unstoppable yet again. Denis Kolomlyets played excellent at both ends of the floor. Ronan Cregan found the going tough as he faced one of the tallest players in the league. He managed to create good space for Nathan who penetrated to the basket for several scores. Fr.Matthews were never going to lie down and rallied back strongly and led 23 to 15 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter brought Andrew McMahon, Dylan Sutton, Iarlaith Cosgrove, Ben Garry and Josh Mulhare into the game. Dylan and Andrew combined brilliantly for scores during this quarter. They went basket for basket with the Fr.Matthews boys. Ben, Josh and Iarlaith played very well at both ends of the floor. Andrew sank four crucial free throws and Dylan finished the quarter with a lovely drive to the hoop. Fr. Matthews maintained their lead with a score of 40 to 30 in their favour at the end of the second quarter.

The second half began with Nathan, Andrew, Dylan, Joey and Josh Callahan on the court. Josh played tenacious defence as usual. However, the Lions boys seemed tired and appeared to be going through the motions on court. This led to a number of silly turnovers and missed lay-ups. The Lions boys only scored six points in this quarter. With 1min 30sec left in this quarter, the Lions coach called a time-out.  He had some very stern words with the players and expected to see some improvements on the floor.  The boys improved their performance and chipped into the Fr.Matthews lead. However, Fr. Matthews still lead 50 to 36 at the end of the third quarter.

The Lions coach had some further stern words with his players before the fourth quarter tipped off. And boy……… did they respond and started to play to their potential. The boys attacked Fr.Matthews defence aggressively and mounted non-stop full court pressure. This resulted in Fr.Matthews lead slowly but surely disappearing. With four minutes left on the clock, the lead was down to ten points. With two minutes left, the lead was down to four points. With less than 20 seconds left, Nathan Moore drove strongly to the hoop and scored. Lions were leading by 2 points!!! A foul by Lions put one of the Fr.Matthews boys on the free throw line. He nailed both pressure shots…… Tied ball game   62 -62!!!! With six seconds left on the clock, the Lions coach called a time-out. He drew up a play to win the game. Andrew McMahon inbounded the ball to Nathan Moore. Nathan dribbled strongly to the basket with two defenders closing in fast. A hard foul was committed which put Nathan on the free throw line to win the game………………. With four seconds on the clock, Nathan calmly sank both free throws. Fr.Matthews had no time-outs left, they inbounded the ball. Andrew stole it……. Game over…………  What a comeback and victory for our boys!!!

Final score Limerick Lions 64. Fr.Matthews 62. Well done to all eleven players who played today.

Lions U18 V Lakers 9.11.14

The team are now two for two after defeating Limerick Lakers in St Clements today. The first quarter left us trailing by 2 points after some very poor defending and shot selection but two 3 pointers from Greg O’Callaghan and four points from Matthew Sutton kept us in touch. 11 to 13 at the end of Q1.

After some stern words from “Cranky Coach” they came out in the second quarter full of defensive effort keeping Lakers scoreless for the full 10 minutes with scores from Jack Coyne, Yugi Natsuma, Hubert Wierzba and Matthew Sutton and of course Greg O’Callaghan adding another two big three pointers. Some excellent defence from Brian Murray, Jack and Greg at the top of the key saw Lakers forcing the shots and trying to penetrate where they ran into a wall of height provided by Hubert, Matthew and Yugi. The quarter finished 30 to 13.

The third quarter saw the introduction of the U16 players with some great displays of defence from Cameron Di Benedetto, Conor Flynn and Iain Campbell to keep the Lakers at bay. Hubert Wierzba took over the centre spot to give Matthew a deserved break on defence and performed very well in the new position. Karolis Vitkaitis was unlucky with his 3 point efforts – he may have used up all his luck as top scorer in the U16 game earlier with 19 points. Lakers also stepped up their defence and the quarter ended 35 to 18.

The fourth quarter had Christian Ryan and Damien Hrynczuk on court to do their bit for the big defensive game that we played with scoring from Yugi, Jack, Cameron and Matthew. The Lakers fired home their final score with 6 seconds on the clock only to see Matthew run the ball the length of the court and fire a pass back to Greg for a buzzer beating 3 to make him the games top scorer. It finished 49 to 28.

Top scorers were Greg O’Callaghan with 19 points, Matthew Sutton with 18 points and Jack Coyne with 5 points. A special mention to Yugi Natsuma as defender of the day.

Limerick Lions kick off their North Munster League Campaign with a convincing win!

On Sunday 9^th November, our U14 boys kicked off their North Munster League campaign. Their opposition was local rivals Limerick Lakers.

Our five players for the first quarter were Nathan Moore, Joey Byrne, Ronan Cregan, Denis Kolomlyets and Nick Timakovs. Lions had a sluggish start to the game, but their intense defence led to some break away scores for Nathan Moore.  Ronan and Denis did great rebounding on the defensive boards. Nick was brilliant on defence and had a fantastic steal during the quarter. As usual Joey Byrne controlled the tempo of the game from the point position. It’s always an up-tempo game with Joey at this position. Lions led 12 – 5 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter brought Andrew McMahon, Dylan Sutton, Iarlaith Cosgrove, Ben Garry and Jack Ryan into the game. Dylan was brilliant on defence and clocked up steal after steal and pulled off some brilliant passes to get Andrew McMahon to the hoop where he finished strongly. Iarlaith, Ben and Jack have improved since their last game and played brilliant defence. Lions led 22 – 12 at half time.

The second half began with Nathan, Andrew, Dylan, Joey and Josh Callahan on the court. Josh was as intense as always on defence and made life very difficult for the Lakers point guard. Nathan, Andrew and Dylan played selfless basketball and combined for some beautiful scores. The Lions boys really pushed forward during this quarter and led 39 – 12 at the end of the third quarter.

The Lions coach played a mix of players during the fourth quarter. Sean Roche played very well and is always a very reliable player with a cool head. It was great to see Ronan Cregan get some scores in near the basket where he has a great height advantage. When the end of game buzzer went off, Lions had won 50 – 16. Well done to all twelve players who played today.

Lions U18 opening game.

The U18 team had a successful start to their North Munster league campaign on Sunday 2^nd with a home game against panthers from Ennis. It was a tentative start in the first quarter with Yuji Natsuma opening the scoring and Matthew Sutton following up with 6 points before Greg O’Callaghan found his range and buried 3 big shots to finish with 8 points. Hubert Wierzba opened his account also with a sublime baseline jumper. 18 to 8 at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter saw Jack Coyne and some of the U16 players step up to keep the pressure on Panthers with Greg opening the scoring with a big 3 pointer and Yugi scoring 9 points. Matthew Sutton again dominated the boards with 3 baskets from offensive rebounds. Cameron Di Bendetto finished the quarter with a big 3 pointer. 41 to 16 at half time.

The second half saw some great performances from the U16 players with Christian Ryan scoring his first U18 basket on his birthday Conor Flynn as usual was a rock on defence. Jack Coyne and Brian Murray controlled the play from the point with Greg draining two more 3 pointers and Matthew adding 4 more baskets to his tally. 57 to 30 after 3 quarters.

The final quarter saw Iain Campbell get on the score sheet with some strong inside plays and Cameron and Damian Hrynczuk playing strong defence. Karolis Vitkaitis didn’t reach the heights of his top scoring U16 game  performance but was a big influence on defence and was tightly marked on offence due to his speed and shooting threat. Final score 68 to 38.

Top scorers were Matthew Sutton with 24 points, Greg O’Callaghan with 17 points and Yugi Natsuma with 11 points.