The senior boys from Grisolles started this new season by winning very well at Labastide-du-Temple. A team that is always difficult to play, especially at home. But the players were keen to show their best side and were very focused and motivated. Showing remarkable solidarity and a desire to bring the ball to life, the Grisollais did not simply beat the Bastidiens, they actually dominated them by thirty-three points (65 to 32).
However, it was not a long calm river as the two teams remained neck and neck throughout the first half. The players on each side were excited (a little too much) by this resumption of the championship, which led to significant clumsiness in shooting and passing at the start of the match. Once everyone calmed down, the game was more structured and more interesting to watch. It was the Grisollais who created a first gap of 5 points at the end of the first quarter. Relying on a very solid defense and good use of their internal attachment points, they stayed the course and even increased their lead slightly to take the lead at the break with an eight-point lead (31 to 23). It’s off to a good start and contrary to their bad habit of last season, the Grisollais will not relax for a second during the third quarter, quite the contrary. They take out some additional barbed wire and their active hands allow them to recover a lot of balls, not always very well exploited in counter-attacks due to too many unnecessary dribbles. Nevertheless, their stifling defense extremely tires their opponents who struggle to cover all angles on the other side of the pitch. Grisolles then takes advantage of the largesse of the Bastidian defense to exploit the many shots very wide open. The gap which had remained at ten points for half the period will then swell at high speed to reach 20 points (48 to 28). Determined to strike, the Grisollais are not going to slow down in defense and will only concede four small in ten minutes of play. Producing a coherent attacking game if not flamboyant (for the moment?), they rely on their inner game to rush into the gaps and score a few extra baskets. Last season, the identity of the Grisolles team was above all marked by an iron defense and it seems that they have gone up a notch in the field.
We will have to confirm next weekend against team 2 of Caussade and be a little more precise in the quick reminders. But in the meantime, they can revel in this authoritarian victory on the outside.
