The Young Rasta Dragons realized the first of their dreams at the Top4 tournament in Frankfurt, but a strong rival prevented them from fulfilling the second. In the end it was enough for the NBBL basketball team to win the German vice championship.
As outsiders, the young dragons defeated FC Bayern Munich 68:64 in the semifinals. Alba Berlin won the title in the final thanks to a 107:64 victory. After 2018, the YRD juniors were again German vice champions – a sensational success.
YRD coach Hendrik Gruhn pays tribute to his team
“I can only give my team a huge compliment. We won silver, not primarily losing the final. The boys are really happy about the vice championship – and they are allowed to do that,” head coach Hendrik Gruhn emphasized the great performance of his team. The fact that Johann Grünloh was voted “Rookie of the Year” was the icing on the cake.
Trained at TSV Quakenbrück
With Mathis Elbers, Tim Reumann, Jonas Groß, Darren Aidenojie, Jegor Cymbal, Julius Bronnert and Johann Grünloh, some current or former QTSV players were in the runner-up team. The fact that their rival from Bavaria was very popular with bookmakers didn’t deter the Gruhn boys.
Johann Grünloh (with the ball) scored 19 points against Munich.
Photo: Archive / Rolf Kamper
Grünloh (19/8 rebounds/5 blocks) scored nine points alone up to 12:16 (10th minute). The air crackled, the YRD squad fought, led 25:22 (16th), but then had a lot of trouble with the Munich cover, hit only 32 percent of his throws and lost many rebound duels up to the 29:34 half-time score (20:28 ).
Significant increase brings the turn against Munich
An explosive increase brought the turning point. The young dragons started with a 10:0 run, which caught the favorites off guard. Strong defense, cheeky attacks, the 42:36 lead (28th) – a shock for Bayern. The 15:8 yield gave a psychologically important 44:42 lead before the final quarter.
An outstanding Noah Jänen, who scored 24 points (three threes), stole the ball five times and committed ten fouls, unnerved the FCB defense. When their top scorer Sebastian Hartmann (27) shortened the lead to 57:55 (36th), things got tight again. But Kilian Brockhoff countered coolly with a dunk and a three-pointer to make it 62:55 – a preliminary decision. Jänen disenchanted the favorite in the final sprint, screwed the 62:59 to 65:59 and hit the final free throws to 68:64.
“Our plan was to take the drives away from Bayern. Now we want to see what’s going to happen against Germany’s best NBBL team tomorrow,” said Hendrik Gruhn, exhausted but happy.
Alba is in a class of its own in Germany
However, because the albatrosses started very focused in the new edition of the duel from 2018 in the Artland Arena, their dominance could not be stopped by the young dragons, some of whom were still exhausted. Aggressive defence, creative attacks, noticeable joy in playing – that gave the Berliners a full 12:2 lead (4th) despite a short YRD lead.
The Gruhn protégés fought doggedly, in the meantime clinched a 21:24 basket, kept the gap constant until 36:23 (10th) – a ray of hope. Tim Reumann directed 25 minutes, Mathis Elbers and Darren Aidenojie energetically grabbed it. Youngster Jonas Groß (YRD) also made his first final appearance. However, Alba turned up the heat again in the second quarter and adjusted the balance of power with 18:9 points.
Young Rasta Dragons must acknowledge Alba dominance
The 54:32 half-time lead was further extended by Berlin after the change, tactically brilliantly adjusted by ex-national player Vladimir Bogojevic. The young dragons had good scenes with strong rebounds from Karl Bühner (8) or blocks from Grünloh (4). But Alba made the game, varying pace and attacking systems, even throwing in “arc lamps” that were converted by dunking.
Coach Hendrik Gruhn (black shirt) and the young dragons had no chance against Berlin.
Photo: Rolf Kamper
Berlin led 81:52 (30). 28:10 assists and 18:9 ball wins speak for themselves. In the 107:64 final victory, the young albatrosses proved that only they set the standards in the NBBL.
To make matters worse, YRD top performer Justin Onyejiaka was injured on the bench – and the difficult semi-final against Munich was still too much in the bones. After all, the Gruhn boys provided the top scorer of this DM final with Jegor Cymbal (19 points).
Proud of the NBBL runners-up
“Berlin is not an opponent you can easily beat. They play great defense. Then the air just went out. We can be proud of second place and definitely want to be in the Top4 again in 2023!” said Yegor Cymbal.
Hendrik Gruhn’s comment also sounded proud of his runner-up team instead of disappointment: “The boys worked incredibly hard for this success. Mentally it was very difficult against a top team like Alba after the win against Munich. And physically, many of us were battered. Thank you to everyone who supported us before and during the Top4,” were Hendrik Gruhn’s final words.
More information:
Julius Bronnert 0/0, Jonas Groß 0/0, Tim Reumann 2/3, Emilijus Peleda 3/4, Tim-Felix Bühren 0/0, Darren Aidenojie 3/1, Noah Jänen 24/7, Karl Bühner 4/6, Mathis Elbers 3/3, Jegor Cymbal 7/19, Kilian Brockhoff 7/11 and Johann Grünloh 19/10.
