THE first of two games in a week saw Ayr Storm Under-14 Boys face a St Mirren side who are dominating this age group in the SLBA League.

They had defeated them by 64 points in Paisley and were firm favourites to win again.

Coach Danny Gibbons knew the return fixture would be all about setting achievable targets - so asked the boys to focus on defense and try to stop the visitors scoring as many points and to make the winning margin smaller.

Hard work and great team work meant they achieved the goals. St Mirren still got the win but the margin was reduced to 54 and Ayr are the side who have managed to score the most points against them.

Next up for the young side was a tight game against South Lanarkshire Colliers. Both teams' coaches were expecting this to be a tight game and that is what the large support for both teams at Belmont Academy saw.

The first period saw Ayr's Matthew Morrison score half the home side's points with a mix of layups and strong rebounding.

Colliers matched Ayr basket for basket and got the last score to leave the hosts trailing 14-12. The second period saw Ayr focus on defense and restricted the visitors to eight points, however with playmaker Paul Gibbons getting special attention from Colliers, there were few chances to score and other than six points from Morrison the team could not make a basket.

This scoring drought continued into the third period when Ayr were held to eight points, with Colliers' pressure creating too many turnovers and giving them lots of easy layups on their way to 16 points and a comfortable lead.

Cammy Lang and Paul Gibbons got more space to run the game in the final period as this one finished 10-9 to the visitors, with Paul scoring seven of the points including the only 3-pointer of the game. Final score: Ayr Storm 35 SL Colliers 48.

The boys showed they are bonding as a team, improving in every game and everyone is now looking forward to the away games next month in East Kilbride and in Greenock to see if they can challenge for second spot

Meanwhile the men's second team only had eight players available for the trip to Paisley and after just two minutes, centre Danny Gibbons limped out the game with a back injury, leaving the team lacking height as well as numbers.

The taller home side used the advantage to sweep up the rebounds at both ends of the court restricting Ayr's second chances and getting plenty of their own to help them run out winners. Final score: Paisley BC 68 Ayr Storm 47.

Coach Sean Reilly said: "We showed a lot of smart play in the match and with a full team on our home court there is no reason we can't pick up a win and put a dent in Paisley's title challenge."

The U18 men were away to Glasgow City for a SLBA league match and faced a side with Scotland players and who also play in the National League.

A strong all-round performance from Jordan O'Hara, great defense from Owen Gibbons and a fine debut from U16 player Lewis Dunbar at this age group gave the home side a scare in P1 but their experience showed through in periods two, three and and four and they stretched away to a comfortable win. Final score: Glasgow City 106 Ayr Storm 49.