AYR Storm U16 Men went into their latest round of Scottish Basketball Championship (SBC) Division Three fixtures in Bathgate undefeated with seven straight wins.

They were expecting a tough game against Grampian Flyers who had won six and lost on, but it was a resurgent Perth Phoenix who had won three and los five who were to give the Ayr side their first SBC defeat of the season.

Perth came out the blocks with strong defence and stopped all Ayr's scoring options, On fast breaks they built up an early eight-point lead.

However once the Ayr boys realised they were in a game they slowly chipped away at the deficit and took a two-point lead at the end of the first period.

Period two was to be the downfall as no Storm player managed to match up well to Perth's strong center who helped them win the period by seven and lead 31-28 at the half.

Period three went to Ayr 14-13, but Perth started strongest in the final period and stretched the lead to double figures.

Some great late interceptions from Hamish Ablett helped release Lewis Dunbar for some quick baskets and cut the lead to the point where Ayr trailed by just three with 15 seconds remaining.

Strong pressure on Perth trying to get the ball in led to a turnover and an Ayr basket and with the gap now just one point, Perth called time out with five seconds left.

On resumption Ayr could not get the ball back or a foul to stop the clock and a great comeback was just short. Final score: Perth Phoenix 60 Ayr Storm 59.

Coaches Danny Gibbons and Alan Nisbet had 90 minutes to help the boys re-group and focus on the second game of the day against Flyers who were sitting right behind them in second place.

This time it was Ayr who came out strong and were 6-0 up when Flyers took an early time out.

All 12 Ayr players were determined to show they could bounce back - and that led to great play in defence and offence for all four periods.

The Grampian team would reduce the Ayr but Storm would then open it up again and always looked in control - so much they won the first three periods (19-14 15-11 15-14) and controlled the final period protecting their lead to take the win and remain top of Division Three. Final Score: Ayr Storm 74 Grampian Flyers 65.

In the Strathclyde League, the U14 boys had a tough lesson in their first away fixture of this new league.

In front of a large crowd in Paisley the team struggled to get their passes to each other and St Mirren scored almost every time they got an interception.

Despite the heavy 90=26 defeat, the coaches and players gave their all and fought right to the end against a side who have five feeder teams to select their squad from. It was the highest number of points St Mirren had conceded in an Under-14 boys game this season.