Ballincollig run extends to lucky 13

POWERHOUSE: Top scorer Latavious Mitchell battles under the basket for Ballincollig. Pic: Larry Cummins.

It’s thirteen undefeated now, and that’s never a good number.

Maybe Ballincollig could do with this run snapping now to clean the slate for the January 17th Cup final against Tralee’s Warriors?

Ballincollig had an edginess to their Cup semi-final squeaker against Limerick Celtics that gave off a whiff of handbrake about it. The fear of losing greater than the appetite for the win.

So next week’s Superleague outing in Dublin against St Vincent’s – how about using it as a warm-up lap?

“Oh, I don’t know,” reflected player coach Ciaran O’Sullivan in the wake of Ballincollig’s 70-67 OT win at Neptune Stadium.

“Vincent’s are one of the (two) teams that we’ve lost to this year, and the final is the week after. If we can keep the run going, we will. The prize on offer is absolutely huge now. Nobody had us here in pre-season – top of the league and in the Cup final. Maybe this one was a good omen for two weeks’ time, we weathered a storm there. Maybe we come out and play a bit more in the final.”

Weather it they did. Just. Superleague new boys Limerick Celtics hung around til the half and went four ahead in Q4 to set up the shock of the semi-final weekend. Ballincollig were shooting 41% from the field and 5/36 from outside for a derisory 14%. Not good.

“I felt there was a lid on the basket in the second half, it’s stating the obvious to say we shot poorly, and I don’t even want to look at the stats. But it was a gritty win, an old school, physical battle. There were some positives - we did a great job on the boards – but someone said there we won’t play as badly again offensively, and that’s not unfair.” 

Added O’Sullivan, who chipped in with four important points: “The plan was to pressure up the floor, we felt we had a deeper bench and down the stretch, that was probably the difference. There at the end, when it was on the line with us one up, they coughed up the ball, we got a great steal, drew the foul and Lattrell (Jossell) hit the two free throws. Our defensive intensity throughout just about gave us enough. But offensively we were well off the boil.” 

It’s ten League games and Cup wins over Eanna, Belfast, and Limerick since Ballincollig last came up short.

“I know there’s a thing about playing not to lose, but you could feel the cohesion in the dressing room, you build that up over a couple of years. Sometimes you tend to stop playing and defending a lead. I’d have to look at that but my sense was that we played away and got good looks but there just seemed to be a lid on the rim. Defensively we did our job, but there are days the ball doesn’t fall for you - we were still getting our best players the ball but it wasn’t happening.” 

Now that he’s got his fitness, Latavious Mitchell is a powerhouse at both ends of the floor, netting 31 points again Friday.

He might have ended up losing but Limerick’s Ruairi Cronin – along with Finn Hughes – is a homegrown product of interest for Tony Hehir’s Celtics. Cronin hang around the court after the loss, his thoughts not difficult to decipher: this was one that got away.

Getting up a head of steam, Celtics reeled in the favourites. From a 46-36 deficit, they closed out the quarter 52-50 in front with a score from Philip Kearney.

Limerick’s excellent guard AJ Williams made it 56-52 Celtics and repeated the dose with 6.22 left to make it a six-point game – Limerick’s biggest lead.

Eventually Ballincollig ground out five minutes of overtime, a brick of a session, with no score – repeat no score – from open play. If semi-finals are less about tricks and only about winning, Ballincollig delivered the template performance.

But O’Sullivan didn’t need anyone to tell him the favourites got away with one. Thirteen and counting as they head to the capital.