Ballina Braves await biggest test this season as Carrick come cruising
Mayo basketballers Ballina Braves face Carrick Cruisers in Round One of the National Cup on the back of winning all four of their matches this season so far.
Ballina have started their new adventure on the national stage all guns blazing. Head coach Paul Barrett and his team have won all four of their matches so far.
Three of them in the preliminary round of the cup and also a dominant win over Cavan Eagles to kick start their league campaign last week.
Captain Mark Cunningham has been an ever improving crucial part of the machine. The 20-year-old Ballina native was part of the St Muredach’s Ballina school team that won national titles a couple of years ago.
In the last game, Cunningham hit season highs for shooting, 18 points, rebounds 12 and assists 6. Not too far off a triple-double so.
“Marky's been absolutely unbelievable. He's kind of gaining confidence every game,” praises head coach Barrett, speaking to The Mayo News ahead of the game against Carrick.
“He's covering the opponent’s best player nearly every night for the most part. He's taking up the point guards and normally that’s the Americans are the pros. He's taken that on board as well. And the stats don't really show the defence he's playing. Even though he got three great blocks off shooters in the corner.
Barrett brands Cunningham’s overall effort as ‘phenomenal’.
“And he knows himself, I'm always on to him just trying to cut down the turnovers. But he's getting better all the time. He's growing in confidence as the season goes on. Hopefully it keeps going in that upward spiral.”
Also, pro player Miles Felletti had a fantastic day our against Cavan last weekend. Felletti scored 34 points, among them, he hit 7/15 for 3-pointers. 47 per cent efficiency on long range efforts are an outstanding yield.
“Miles has been great. He's just a professional. He's unbelievable with the lads. He's bringing Conor Forkin, a 16-year-old, into the gym with them, teaching how to lift properly, and he's just a good teammate. And that's one thing we kind of asked everyone to do this year, be a good teammate. He got hot Saturday night, showed what he's capable of. Probably wasn't shooting all that well in the first half, he'd say that himself, but shooters keep shooting. And he definitely caught fire.”
The turnover count might be a constant source of worry for coach Barrett. They will have to be kept at a minimum on Saturday.
“I think there's a lot more room for improvemen. It was a bit better in the last game, and we're definitely more conscious of this at practise during the week. Our biggest problem with the turnovers is we're just being a little bit careless and we're probably trying to force the issue too much sometimes when the pass isn't really on. Probably trying to make a spectacular pass when it's not needed, so there's something we need to keep getting better at.”
The Ballina team will face their stiffest test this season when they encounter Carrick Cruisers on Saturday evening.
The Monaghan based outfit are a top team in Division One, a league above Ballina. Interesting fun fact: Carrick Cruisers have the Monaghan All-Star footballer Stephen O’Hanlon on their team.
Barrett is under no illusions in terms of the challenge that lies ahead for his boys: “Listen, I'm not going to sugar coat it. They're a division ahead of us. That's where we want to get to. The big thing I'll be asking for Saturday is just tear into them. Just effort. Really effort. Hopefully we get a big crowd there because Ballina loves the Cup. And who knows? It's definitely a David vs. Goliath battle.”
Indeed, who knows. There’s a big crowd expected on Saturday, November 7 in the Ballina Sports Centre. Tip-off at 7pm.
Read the match report and interviews after the game here on www.mayonews.ie and check out our Facebook and TikTok channel for updates.