First derby in Serie A staged at the PalaVerde between Treviso and Verona, paired at the bottom of the standings. It could only end with an exciting point-to-point, which rewarded the team that had the strongest nerves and the wrong hand.
Treviso had started as best he could, defending aggressively and making no mistakes in attack. Then the light suddenly went out. Light turnovers and difficulty reading opponents’ cuts. Verona gradually gathered courage, adjusting shooting percentages and finding its driving forces in Holman and Anderson. The Scala players shot with high two-point percentages (68%), recovering 13 balls and forcing their opponents to lose as many as 22.
Excellent performances by Iroegbu (25 points) and Sorokas (18) for the Nutribullet, which however paid for the disastrous day of Banks and Sokolowski, unrecognizable. Tezenis had in Anderson (21) the best scorer and in Cappelletti the man able to guarantee lucidity in the organization of the game and coolness in the excited final.
The record
Sorokas and Anderson open the dance from the arch. Treviso starts with determination and with 5 consecutive points from Jurkatamm and Iroegbu’s coast to coast flies to +9 in the 4th minute (12-3). Coach Ramagli calls time-out, but the inertia of the match is firmly in the hands of the Treviso players, who are more aggressive in defense and reactive on rebounds. The Nutribullet circulates the ball quickly from the strong side to the weak side and Iroegbu is a sentence in the shot (18-8). Verona in attack lives on Holman’s plays and little more. Penetration with a foul by Sorokas and it is +14 (23-9). Treviso loses lucidity in attack, throwing away balls unexpectedly. Verona thanks and unexpectedly returns to the match with Anderson’s bombs and free throws. We go to the first interval on 26-22.
Nutribullet struggles to find the way to the basket, Zanelli’s bomb closes an 11-0 run for Tezenis (29-24), but the guests defend aggressively and attack well in the low post with Anderson (29-28). Again Zanelli removes the chestnuts from the fire from the arc (32-38), but Verona is there and with Smith’s dunk he returns to – 1 (35-34). The race is exciting and balanced. Two dunks by Holman totally change the inertia of the match (37-40), with Treviso paying for the many turnovers (14 at the end of the second quarter). The Treviso players also begin to dirty the percentages from three and from the arc Holman punishes them (37-43). On the expiry the penetration of an opaque Banks closes the first half on 39-43.
Treviso starts again with another attitude and with yet another bomb from Iroegbu puts its nose back on (44-43). It is played point to point, Bannks and Sokolowski have wet powder, Cappelletti dispenses assists and Tezenis moves forward by 6 with Johnson’s penetration (50-56). Call time-out Nicola and Treviso try to take advantage of Verona’s bonus to go one-on-one and gnaw points from the line. Banks finally breaks free from the arc (57-60).
We go to the decisive quarter and Verona with Anderson and Cappelletti takes us to +7 (57-64). Treviso wakes up and scores again with Sorokas, going down to -2 (62-64). Cappelletti scores 5 in a row (62-69), Banks is a bad copy of himself and Treviso is in confusion, but a bomb from his home by Sorokas rekindles hope. Cooke crushes the – 2 (67-69). Last three minutes point by point. Both teams are in bonuses and the free lottery begins. Casarin steals the ball on a pass from Sokolowski and leans against the glass (73-76). Cappelletti makes two out of two from the line (76-79). Iroegbu misses the second free throw, Sorokas takes the rebound but misses the equalizing shot.
Salvatore Possumato
PHOTO: Cappelletti, decisive in the final match (Ciamillo-Castoria)
