''U-18'' Junior Towers “Unite” to Overcome ''United LT''

In the only home match of the weekend, Towers U18 boys hosted new local rivals, United LT from Cookstown, on Saturday 2 December in what was to be an early Christmas treat of a match. Towers came hot from the tip as Towers captain A Donaghy raced in for the layup and the first score of the match, while United LT scrambled to find their feet. Towers continued with the pace and the scoring intensity and as the final buzzer sounded, Towers J Zillionis launched a hail mary basketball from midcourt and scored, sending the jubilant Towers to the bench with the lead 17-8. United LT came together in the second and the shots started to drop, and while Towers were producing scores of their own, they also punished themselves with silly fouls, sending United LT’s match MVP V Stonevicius to the line where he capitalized to close the gap to 3, Towers lead 29-26. In Towers typical fashion, the tale of the third quarter tells all, and Towers came out flat out in the third with a full court press, startling the guests and extending the lead to 8. Towers then called the press off to focus on half court defense, which gave the chance for the shots to fly or for United LT’s V Stonevicius to continue to punish inside with great drives and shots, for United to win the quarter by a point and close the gap to 2, Towers 46 United 44. Foul trouble for both teams then began to play a role as both teams alternated between starters fouling out of the match, which then opened the floor for great inside play by Towers Graham and Zirlys, also allowing for the shooting prowess of N Klivickas to come to the fore and dominate the fourth quarter to take the match win, Towers 64 United LT 58.