The Class Sant Antoni, fixed course towards the ‘play-off’ of promotion

From the beginning it was clear that Portmany’s men were going to have to suffer again, as usual. The 0-6 start of the visiting block did not anticipate anything good for the people of San Antonio, whose start was very bad. The team coached by Carles Flores went three minutes without scoring, until a free kick from Carreño, first, and a basket from two ended the drought (3-6). However, a triple by Juan Pedro Jiménez, who was a nightmare throughout the match, made it 3-9.

Victory not easy

In the first quarter, the locals entrusted themselves to their captain, Jordi Grimau, once again the leader and savior when things are not going well. But the people from Cartagena found oil with the outside shot and Sergio Mendiola won several duels against Vinicius Da Silva in the inside game. Weapons more than enough to keep Sant Antoni at bay, which ended the first ten minutes clearly losing (17-24). Portmany’s men continued thick in the second act, despite the fact that this time they entered the court much more in tune in attack. A basket from two by Haro and a triple by Jonats brought the Balearic Islands closer (22-24). It was a mirage, because in the exchange of blows Cartagena came out victorious again until leaving at 26-33. Flores asked for time and looked for solutions. In the restart, a triple by Carreño made it 29-33, but five consecutive points from the visitors brought the score to 29-38.

The Ibizans were not comfortable and were much less incisive than they are used to in the Sa Pedrera pavilion, which once again registered a huge entrance to enjoy the best basketball that can currently be seen on the island. At half-time it was 31-38, with an identical +7 for a Cartagena who was playing a very complete game. The third quarter curtain rose with a triple by Sediq Garuba and Cartagena put land in the middle with a ten-point advantage (31-41). But, once again, Grimau appeared to answer with another three-pointer and make it 34-41. Then Sant Antoni found the necessary spark with its great captain, the always brave Pau Carreño and a recovered Da Silva. With a basket from the Brazilian, those from Portmany managed to equalize their opponent (43-43). Gustavo Aranzana, coach of the Cartagena, began to not see it so clearly and called a timeout.

The visiting team took a breather, which escaped again (43-48). That was going to be the last breath of the people of Cartagena. Sant Antoni gritted their teeth and with a 10-2 run they took the lead for the first time. With 53-50 the third act ended. The outcome remained and the dynamics had changed.

A triple by Mollgaard opened the last period (56-50). Emilio Martínez scored a free kick for the visitors (56-51), but another good action by Mollgaard made it 58-51. Two more points from Aleix Haro made it 60-51. Sant Antoni was marking territory. He did it even more with a triple from Kaufmanis (63-51) that finished sinking a Cartagena. A visiting team that fought until the end but found itself outclassed by a rival that is full of confidence. Dreaming continues to be free in the lands of Portmany.

On the other hand, it should be noted that before the start of the meeting, a minute of silence was observed for the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Between the quarterfinals, the teams from the initiation, premini and mini categories of Club Bàsquet Sant Antoni presented themselves.