Superb Ballincollig stun Tralee Warriors to claim historic Pat Duffy Cup win
Joshua Steel of Ballincollig in action against Daniel Jokubaitis of Garveys Tralee Warriors. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile
A shooting exhibition beyond belief by Ballincollig’s American Lattrell Jossell ensured Ballincollig were crowned Pat Duffy Men’s National Cup champions for the first time when easily disposing of Tralee Warriors at the National basketball arena on Saturday.
Jossell finished with 31 points of which 24 came outside the paint as the American deservedly was named as the games MVP.
This was probably one of the finest shooting performances ever witnessed at basketball headquarters as the winners made an amazing 16 three pointers over the four quarters.
Another huge plus for Ballincollig was the manner they defended particularly when the Warriors threatened a revival in the second half.
As a team Ballincollig were fine-tuned and the Warriors found themselves chasing the game almost from tip-off.
It looked as if both sides were tentative in the opening exchanges until the Warriors' American Irshad Hunte nailed a jumper in the second minute.
Credit to Ballincollig they refused to panic, and Keelan Cairns drained a huge three-pointer on their next possession.
The Cork side now looked to be settling and when Latrell Jossell shot outside the paint it was followed by a similar shot from Josh Steel.
In fairness the Warriors too refused to panic and with Ballincollig raining three pointers in the opening five minutes they trailed 20-10.
Amazingly Jossell shot six three-pointers in the opening seven minutes as the Warriors were on the ropes when trailing by 13 points.
It wasn’t that the Warriors were playing poorly its just that Ballincollig’s shooting was off the charts shooting 10 three pointers in eight minutes.
Leading 34-20 entering the second quarter Ballincollig reintroduced American Latavious Mitchell who was sat down when committing his second foul in the fifth minute.
The three pointers continued to rain down on Tralee and in the 12th minute they had made 13 of their 18 attempts outside the paint that saw them surge into a 44-22 lead.
As this quarter matured the Warriors' defence improved and midway through this period they had reduced the deficit to 17 points 44-27.
Strangely Ballincollig’s scoring avalanche had dried up but player-coach Ciaran O’Sullivan ended the drought with a stunning shot outside the arc in the 16th minute.
On each occasion that the Warriors threatened a revival Ballincollig consistently responded and with 1.10 remaining to the interval they still commanded a 20 point lead 57-37.
In the closing possessions various rotations were used by both sides but Ballincollig remained in pole position at the break with a 21-point cushion 61-40.
The half-time stats made better reading for the Leesiders as they made 4/13 (31%) inside the arc but their shooting outside the paint was off the charts making 16 of the 25 attempts giving them a 64% average.
The Kerry side had 8/20 inside the paint (40%) and outside the paint they had a 5/18 (28%) the difference between the sides in the opening half.
On the restart the Warriors increased the tempo outscoring Ballincollig 6-2 in the opening minute.
Suddenly Ballincollig looked tentative, but Adrian O’Sullivan eased the pressure with a crucial three-pointer.
Midway through the quarter Ballincollig led by 18 points and for the Warriors they needed big scoring to the end of this period.
To be fair the Warriors battled like Trojans, but they simply couldn’t handle the pressure Ballincollig put on them and with three minutes remaining they still trailed by 20 points.
The contribution of Josh Steel in defence was immense as he nullified the threat of Jordan Perkins who only had 12 points to his name in 30 minutes of basketball.
Coming down the stretch the power of Mitchell was evident as despite a brave Warriors performance they simply couldn’t match the brilliance of Ballincollig.
: L Jossell 31, L Mitchell 20 J Steel 19, K Cairns 12.
: I Hunte 22, J Perkins 14, P Fleming 14.
Ballincollig: A O’Sullivan, J Steel, L Jossell, D O’Herlihy, A Rodriguez, C O’Sullivan, R O’Sullivan, C Blount, L O’Sullivan, D Corkery, L Mitchell, K Cairns.
I Hunte, J Perkins, O Michalczuk, J Friel, J Fernane, D Bowler, K Crowe, P Fleming, D Jokubaitis, S Bowler, C Sullivan, E Quigley.
: E Perry (Dublin), M Nazimek (Dublin), L Cassidy (Dublin).
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