Cork Basketball: Ballincollig beat Limerick Celtic in dress rehearsal for Friday's cup semi-final
Latavious Mitchell, Ballincollig, takes on toghan Donaghy, Sean Antonio Hauser Jnr and Abdul Wurie, Limerick Celtics, at the MTU Arena. Picture: Jim Coughlan.
Ballincollig will head into the New Year as leaders of the Men’s Super League following their impressive 81-75 home win over Limerick Celtics.
These teams will clash again on Friday in the Pat Duffy National Cup semi-final at Neptune Stadium.
In a rip-roaring opening quarter, Ballincollig commanded a four-point lead: 27-23. This Limerick Celtics side is resilient and bounced back in style to edge into a 42-40 interval lead.
On the restart, the trend of the game changed little with both sides playing good defence and the sides were level at 62 points each with 38 seconds remaining in the third. A brace of Latrell Jossell free throws was good enough to help Ballincollig lead by the minimum 64-63 entering the final quarter.
Coming down the stretch, Ballincollig battened down the hatches and kept their noses in front, but it was still a two-point game with a minute remaining.
It took two free throws each from Adrian O’Sullivan and Keelan Cairns to eventually secure the victory for Ballincollig and the close nature of this game sets Friday’s cup clash up nicely.
It was certainly a busy Christmas weekend for basketball enthusiasts with two derby games in the space of 24 hours.
Neptune Stadium was the destination on Saturday for the battle of the bottom two in the Men’s Super League with Energywise Ireland Neptune hosting their great rivals UCC Demons. After a fairly ordinary game, Neptune deservedly secured the bragging rights 95-77 but Demons fans must be seriously thinking of the unthinkable.
From champions to a straight relegation would be a first in the history of the sport but in the first game in the second round of the season Demons look in serious decline.
Studying the stats, it showed two players who both played over 30 minutes attempted 17 three-pointers and made a paltry two.
In fairness, Neptune shot the ball better than they have been doing all season but will have few games for the remainder of the campaign where they will be allowed that many free looks.
What Demons were doing in the first half, playing a 3-2 zone defence against a side with players possessing hot hands, is a mystery. Demons' game plan and wasn’t evident against a very average Neptune side.
On a final note, Demons shot 34 outside the arc and made a paltry five (15%) that summed up their day at the Blackpool venue.
The great people who founded Blue Demons are celebrating their 60th anniversary with a celebration Dinner on Saturday, February 28 and what a situation they now find themselves in with the top team in the club struggling big time.
The present squad of players need to wake up and smell the coffee before it’s too late to avoid the dreaded drop.
The second Cork derby on Sunday was in the Women’s Super League where Gurranbraher Credit Union Brunell defeated Career Decisions UCC Glanmire in a comfortable fashion, 97-72.
No alarm bells yet for the Glanmire coach Mark Scannell but with his side playing Killester in the semi-final of the Women’s National Cup on Saturday huge improvement will be needed at Neptune Stadium.
Fr Mathew’s year finished on a disappointing note when they lost 82-78 at Midland Park Portlaoise Panthers to remain winless.
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