Cork Basketball: Ballincollig have too much for Sligo All Stars to keep up Super League push
Ballincollig's Colm Blount finishes a lay-up against Sligo All Stars at MTU. Picture: Noel Sweeney
Ballincollig secured another vital win in the Domino’s Men’s Super League when overcoming a resilient Sligo All Stars at the MTU Arena on Saturday.
In a low-key game for long periods, Ballincollig’s third-quarter display, led by the outstanding Josh Steel and Latrell Jossell, proved too much for their stubborn opponents. The result puts them in a strong position for a top-two finish with two games remaining. Killester and Belfast Star are also in the mix.
From tip-off Jordan Hinds made a deft move to the hoop and finished with precision to give the visitors a two-point lead that was followed by a similar basket from Sligo’s RJ Rock.
Latrell Jossell showed his shooting skills with a stunning three-pointer, but it was Sligo who went on a scoring spree as they surged into a six-point lead: 11-5.
Gradually Ballincollig began finding their touch and when Josh Steel made a beautiful move to the hoop midway through the quarter and produced a stunning slammer, the deficit was reduced to two points 15-13.
Credit to both sides, the game was played at a ferocious pace in the opening seven minutes. When Ballincollig called a time-out, they trailed 19-18 with Sligo continuing to pose them problems in the offence court.
On the restart, the Sligo American Elijah Lawrence produced a miraculous buzzer-beater three. The closing minute saw both teams miss easy tips, but Sligo remained in control when taking a three-point lead 26-23 into the second quarter.
Consecutive three-pointers from Keelan Cairns and Adrian O’Sullivan gave the home side a lead of three and the same two players nailed shots from outside the arc again on their next two possessions.
Ballincollig produced some wonderful basketball in this spell and when Dylan Corkery finished a magnificent move, their lead increased to nine points.
The hosts sat their two Americans but after Steel nailed a monstrous shot outside the paint, they commanded a 14-point lead. In the case of Mitchell, he seemed to pull up after his opening basket and was immediately substituted and didn’t participate again in the game.
Ballincollig got sloppy for a spell and six consecutive points reduced the deficit to eight points. When Ballincollig fluffed two good opportunities, the westerners had the final say of the half when Lawrence finished a lay-up on the buzzer, the deficit was reduced to six points at the break: 51-45.
Looking at the half-time stats it showed Ballincollig were 13/22 (59%) inside the paint but 4/14 (31%) outside the arc.
The biggest problem for the Ballincollig coach Ciaran O’Sullivan was their inept defending and no doubt that was addressed at the half-time pep talk. Yet Sligo resumed with consecutive baskets as the Ballincollig defence continued to look suspect.
A third Cairns three-pointer and couple of Dylan Corkery tips gave the home side some breathtaking space.
In the opening five minutes of the second half, this became the equivalent of a scrimmage with neither team showing any mettle in defence but with 4.49 remaining Ballincollig had restored a 10-point lead.
The home side's best basketball is when playing stringent defence and when Jossell pulled up for a long-range three-pointer they were up by 14.
Following a time-out, Ciaran O’Sullivan stepped up for a crucial three-pointer and Ballincollig were in total control.
After outscoring their opponents 39-22, Ballincollig took a 23-point into the last quarter and despite a mini rally from their westerners, there was no big comeback.
J Steel 25, L Jossell 20, A O’Sullivan 15.
J Hinds 27, E Lawrence 23, J Carroll 14.
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.
E Lawrence, D O’Meara, M Chambers, L McLoughlin, O Agu, E Faapito, J Hinds, O Toluogunkoya, R Rock.
Joe Lavin (Dublin), Adam Wickham (Dublin), Jozsef Nida (Dublin).
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