Ballincollig are a super team with a super coach and have been the best team in the country all year

Ballincollig 79 

Killester 71 

Ballincollig’s SuperLeague title win on Sunday against Killester in the National Basketball Arena only confirmed what we knew beforehand.

They are the best team in country. They have been all year.

They have played the most games, 28 in total, won the most games, 23 and won the regular season, won the National Cup and now won the play-offs to complete the double.

A remarkable achievement.

They have no equal this season. Three of their players Josh Steel, Latavious Mitchell and Latrell Jossell made the All-Star team, while Adrian O’Sullivan also made the second All-Star team and all four deserve to be there.

O'Sullivan was incredible today.  A fitting MVP, he lead by example on both ends of the floor.  He's a great, very smart super basketball player.

They have the best coaching team in Ciaran O’Sullivan and his assistant Matt Hall and they have brought the level of coaching in this year’s SuperLeague to a new level and all other coaches need to adjust and catch up.

This is their second league title in four seasons. And you get the feeling there is a lot more to come from this very ambitious club.

Killester are still on the hunt for a first league title since 2013/14, having lost out to UCC Demons in the final last season, but today they were beaten by a better team, no shame in that.

All clubs have lost to Ballincollig in games that matter this season. They have so many weapons that they are impossible to stop. 

If their professional players don’t do the damage, all their Irish players, Keelan Cairns, Adrian and Ciaran O’Sullivan, Dylan Corkery, Diego Herlihy are all capable of stepping up offensively when required and have done so all season.

In the National Cup final, it was their offensive that won the game. Today, it was their defence. They can play on both ends and do so with great smartness and skill.

They are a very well coached team, who constantly find ways to win.

Ballincollig and Killester were tied at 17 each at the end of a very controlled opening quarter. Both sides played well within themselves – there was no explosive start for the Cork side like in the National Cup final against Tralee.

What they did do, was just enough. They settled into the game at their own pace. Their professional players Josh Steel, Latavious Mitchell and Latrell Jossell all played their way into the game without fuss or too much effort.

They needed to improve their free throw shooting though – one from six will see you lose if that type of return from the line did not improve.

For Killester, the big worry for them was the early two fouls picked up by key player Paul Dick, who had to leave the court as a result and his presence on the court is vital for all they do.

The second quarter started again at a very controlled pace, which suited Killester more than Ballincollig and they led by three 21-24 early in the second.

But suddenly Ballincollig found their momentum and eight quick fire points from Adrian O’Sullivan and Josh Steel with threes and then Adrian with a layup Ballincollig were five ahead 29-24 and looking like themselves again, running and gunning and knocking Killester out of their rhythm.

They were ahead 34 to 24 with under three to play in the half and by the end of the second quarter which ended poorly, both team making basic mistakes and turning the ball over, Ballincollig led by nine, 39-30.

Killester started the third quarter better and had the lead cut to five points when Ballincollig suddenly awoke from their slumber thanks to an Adrian O’Sullivan basket and a goal tending call to go back ahead 55-44 with under four to play in the third.

Again, the final minutes of the quarter were scrappy and poor to watch, but Ballincollig still remained in total control, thanks to two huge monster threes, one by Josh Steel and one from Adrian O’Sullivan with the shot clock running down and were leading 65-53 entering the fourth quarter.

The key to Ballincollig winning this final was now to prevent Killester from making a run in the opening minutes of the final quarter.

They couldn’t, and with under eight to play the lead was down to six points.

Momentum was now with Killester and so was luck as Paul Dick should have been called for a charge, but a defensive foul was called on Adrian O’Sullivan, sending Dick to the line.

Wrong call. He made one to cut the lead to five, 68-63. Ballincollig hit the next four points to push the lead back to 74-65 with five to play and from here to the end they were able to match Killester score for score and run out comfortable winners by eight points to complete a well-deserved double, the first in the club’s history.