Ballincollig may well be going into the Domino's MSL National Cup final as favourites, but star player Latavious Mitchell is taking nothing for granted as his side go in search of their first ever cup final victory.
Mitchell’s side take on Garvey’s Tralee Warriors in the weekend’s showpiece final eager to get over the line, having come so close in 2024 when they were edged out by UCC Demons in the final.
Ballincollig have impressed on their way to this year's final, beating Griffith College Eanna, Belfast Star and Limerick Celtics. They’re also level on points with leaders Belfast in the Men’s Super League.
Narrowly beating Tralee in a tight Super League game in November, where they emerged 85-82 winners, Ballincollig look to have the edge ahead of the final at the National Basketball Arena but Mitchell is not paying any attention to the form book.
"I'm expecting these guys to come in and play hard," he told RTÉ Sport.
"They're a talented team, just as we are. I know it's going to be a little battle, so I'm not for sure what their gameplan is going to be exactly.
"They had a great game in their last cup game against UCD, so I don't know. I'm just ready to see what it's going to be like when we get in those lines.
"You know, we're in a neutral arena, so it's going to be different for both of us. It's going to be loud in here, a lot of fans, you know, so it's going to be a great environment for both teams."
Ballincollig is a long way from Florida where Mitchell made his name with Florida Memorial University as a college player, being named the Sun Conference player of the Year, however, he’s quickly settled into life in Cork.
Joining Ballincollig in August, the forward has already marked himself out as one of the most exciting attacking players in the league and he’s even found time to get stuck in with the Tidy Towns association.
"We've been out in the community, we've been helping out with Tidy Towns," he said, speaking of the build-up to the final.
"They're going to be out and about with us. We've seen shops with little signs in their windows, printed and cut out in the shop, they're real supportive.
"I walk around town, it's a small village, a little five-minute town. So when people see me out and about, they've been giving me wishes of luck for the weekend coming up.
"We're super excited. It's always a great chance to go play for something, go bring something home. We definitely want to go get a trophy, it's exciting times right now for the village."
Eoin Quigley of Tralee Warriors is among those tasked with keeping that trophy from Ballincollig and he knows what it takes to lift the National Cup.
Quigley scored 14 points in Tralee’s 2022 cup final victory over Neptune and four year later, he’s still performing, scoring 10 points in their semi-final win UCD Marian.
The Tralee skipper is now one of the veteran players of the league at 34 and he sees plenty of similarities between the Tralee team of ’22 and the current crop.
"There probably is some similarities. You know, we got some big pros and the Irish guy's chipping in to do other stuff and Jacko (Daniel Jokubaitis) was there in '22. So similar enough kind of a look, but, some different personalities and, guys are different ages, different maturity levels.
"The whole year kind of builds to these finals and we're lucky enough to get the one.
"What we're expecting from Ballincollig is a tough physical game. We played them already in the league, down in their gym and they beat us, so I think we're pretty equally matched.
"We're probably coming in as underdogs but we're ready for the challenge."
