Lakers sink to another defeat

MEN’S NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE Ballincollig 98 Scotts Lakers 75

SCOTTS Lakers suffered their heaviest defeat of the season when they were comprehensively defeated by Ballincollig in Ballincollig Community School last Saturday.

The Cork side took control of this match late in the first quarter and never looked back. Scotts Lakers actually started well with three-pointers from Philip O’Connor and Mark Greene and were 14-10 ahead with three minutes left in the first quarter.

Antuan Bootle had also made his presence felt on the scoreboard but Ballincollig were shooting well from three-point range through Cameron Clarke and Pere Tres and the home side led 23-18 at the end of the first quarter.

Ballincollig adopted a full court press after every score early in the second quarter and it was a tactic that proved successful forcing a series of turnovers. These turnovers quickly translated into scores and the home side gradually took control of the game.

The intensity level had stepped up as the match was played at a fast and furious pace. Ballincollig coach Kieran O’Sullivan (former league winner with Tralee Tigers) rotated his players with great effect as Ballincollig raced into a 50-32 lead at half-time.

Scotts Lakers actually responded well early in the third quarter with scores from Greene, Bootle and Andrew Fitzgerald. However it was short-lived as Ballincollig got their scoring machine back on track, particularly through American Clarke. Mihail Kapitanov hit form, with a big three-pointer to keep the Lakers in touch but Ballincollig were also piling on their own three-pointers and led 72-49 at the end of the third quarter.

Despite the huge mountain to climb and the gap in the scoreline, Scotts Lakers never gave up with Kapitanov sinking a brace of three-pointers and a similar number of two-pointers. However, Ballincollig were never going to be caught and matched everything that Lakers threw at them. In the end the home side had a comfortable 23 points to spare.

A remarkable 15 three-point- ers by the home side spread across seven different players was a significant factor in the victory as Lakers struggled to match this high percentage shooting return and actually missed 15 three-pointer attempts while converting just seven from 22 attempted three-pointers.

The Killarney side’s strengths probably revolve more on an inside game rather than trying to match teams from three-point land. Padraig Lucey was missed under the boards for this game but Bootle is one of the biggest and strongest players in the league and the likes of Fitzgerald and Dan Griffin also offer good support.

Lakers have more than enough ammunition in this quartet to trouble most teams and will need to focus more on their own advantages to get their season back on track again.

BALLINCOLLIG: Cameron Clarke 25 Pere Tres 14, Ronan O’Sullivan 16, Ciarán O’Sullivan 11.

SCOTTS LAKERS: Mark Greene 15 points, Antuan Bootle 14, Mihail Kapitanov 13 Andrew Fitzgerald 12, Cian Clernon 6, Philip O’Connor 5, Padraig Weldon 4, Dylan O’Sullivan 4, Justin Tuason 2. SCOTTS Lakers welcome Ulster University Elks to Killarney this Saturday at 7.30pm. The visitors lie in fourth place in the league with six wins and three losses. Lakers are mid table with three wins and five losses.