Limerick Lions travelled to Neptune Stadium on Saturday Jan 15th, 2022 for 3 back to back U16s Cork League games.
10:00 Lions Vs Mallow
Result : 61 – 54
Lions faced a tough challenge in the 1st game of the day Vs Mallow who have some fine talented players including the imposing 6ft 6, U16 Irish International contender Pharell Osagie and many other threatening players.
It took Lions a while to warm up and committed some early turnovers before getting into their stride and finishing the quarter 12 – 8 ahead with Ben Madden, who was returning from a long term injury, hitting a nice 3 pointer. The 2nd quarter saw some more fine shooting with 3s from Patryk Rejkowicz and Darragh Horkan, finishing 33 – 17 in Lions favour. The Lions were really in good form at this stage with Horkan and Javier Echavarri combining well on the fast break and some nice shots from Harry Smith and Kirill Yakovlev, to stay ahead 54 – 35 at the end of the 3rd quarter. The 4th quarter saw another 3 from Ben Madden and Ross Ferguson completed the scoring for a final score of 61 – 54.
Top Scorers :
Darragh Horkan – 26
Javier Echavarri – 12
Patryk Rejkowicz – 9
Ben Madden – 6
11:00 Lions Vs Blue Demons
Result : 52 – 45
The 2nd game of the day was another tough game against a sharp shooting Blue Demons side. Lions started slowly again and there were some early basket exchanges before pulling into the lead. Demons however hit 3 back to back 3 pointers with an amazing buzzer beater from half way to finish the half, with the score 27 – 22 in Lions favour.
Lions tried various defensive strategies in the 2nd half to try and contain the excellent outside shooting from Demons and managed to stretch the lead at the end of the 3rd quarter to 42 – 31.
Defensively, Michael Stanners, Darragh Krausen and Ross Ferguson helped contain the Demons players. Offensively, Rejkowicz worked the post well, with a combination of some nice shots and drives.
Top Scorers :
Darragh Horkan – 19
Patryk Rejkowicz – 19
Javier Echavarri – 14
12:00 Lions Vs Neptune
Result : 75 – 26
Our 3rd and final game of the day was a tough draw for a young Neptune side who had just come off a double overtime defeat to Mallow and were past exhaustion, whereas Lions were on high spirits and still full of energy and raring to go.
From the start, Lions penetrated well and saw some lovely drives from Horkan and Echavarri finishing the quarter 22 – 9 up. The 2nd quarter saw Ben Madden and Harry Smith finishing on the break and Ross Ferguson knocking down a 3 pointer and a layup to complete the scoring at half time, 39 – 14. Rejkowicz came back into the game in the 3rd quarter and the big centre was a handful for the Neptune defense to deal with, and along with Kirill Yakovlev and Darragh Krausen, who was flying and on the end of many fast breaks, all contributing to the scoring in the quarter which finished 61 – 22. John Finn started the scoring in the 4th quarter and 2 more 3s from Michael Stanners and Ross Ferguson and there was some fine finishing from Harry Smith to conclude the game on a scoreline of 75 – 26.
Top Scorers :
Darragh Horkan – 19
Patryk Rejkowicz – 14
Ross Ferguson – 10
Javier Echavarri – 9
Harry Smith – 6