A battle, a comeback, demonstrating character, necessary to believe in it when all attempts to get closer were frustrated by the great test in Pesaro. But in the end Olimpia’s Under 19 team (which is actually an Under 18 team plus the 19 year old Marcucci, with two 17 year olds in the quintet and two others who are an important part of the rotation) was rewarded. Courage was rewarded. At minus three in the last minute, Achille Lonati equalized the match and the courageous captain Riccardo Casella won it.
Almost all these boys played in the Under 17 final last year: by moving up in category they returned to the same stage. Some of the 2007 boys (Garavaglia, Lonati, Karem, Youssef) won the Under 15 title two years, played in the Under 17 final and will now play in a third. It will be very difficult, against a now well-known opponent: Tortona, the same team faced (defeated in extra time) in the first phase of Next Gen and then in the final of the same Next Gen (victory in the sprint). For both it will be the seventh match in seven days. Like Olimpia, Tortona had also lost a match in the elimination rounds (with Fidenza) and was forced to immediately return to the field, beating Francavilla, Borgomanero and today after another spectacular match Varese, 100-97. It will be played at 7pm.
A triple by Mattia Stazzonelli at the end of the third quarter, another plus 10 for Pesaro, almost seemed like a condemnation for Olimpia. Up until that moment the plot of the match from the end of the first quarter onwards had always been the same: Pesaro ahead and Olimpia desperately looking for a comeback with problems in containing the explosiveness of the Adriatic attack. Olimpia had started not well but very well, 18-9 after just five minutes with Denis Badalau in the Belgrade version (all the team’s first nine points). But then Pesaro took over in attack, getting close first to minus one and then to minus two at the end of the period, a period in which Olimpia, after two triples in a row from Achille Lonati, had reached 30 but with just two points. of advantage. 30-28 exactly. At that moment, the momentum of the race had already changed. Pesaro made an immediate impact, overtook and left, twice and eight more, then a 12-point margin on a triple by Stazzonelli and a basket by Maretto. Olimpia finished the second quarter better, a fundamental detail. A triple from Badalau brought them back to within four before finishing down 57-50 with explosive attacks and revisable defenses.
Denis Badalau, 25 points and 12 rebounds
The story of the third quarter, however, was similar to that of the second. Olimpia, with another type of defensive effectiveness, came closer almost immediately. A steal by Lonati brought it within four, twice, before a triple by Casella made it 59-60. The idea that it would immediately become a battle or that Olimpia could regain control of the match was immediately wrecked. Brehima Fainke with five consecutive points gave the Pesaro team an eight-point lead. Stazzonelli certified the plus 10. Badalau brought Milan back to five points from the line before Stazzonelli’s aforementioned missile. At the end of the third quarter it was 80-70 Pesaro.
18 points for Achille Lonati who like Garavaglia, Suigo and Karem plays under category
The fourth quarter was epic, one of the most exciting in this team’s history. Olimpia held Pesaro without scoring for a good four minutes. But they gained just five points, all from Badalau, because tiredness and nervousness began to affect both teams. Pesaro stopped scoring for another three minutes. An offensive rebound and a foul immediately brought Lonati to the line to sign the minus four with 3:11 left. A handful of seconds later, Fainke’s unsportsmanlike pass generated the incredible, sudden overtaking of Olimpia: 2/2 by Miccoli, possession of the ball, basket and foul by Badalau, free throw scored, 83-82 Olimpia.
Riccardo Casella, the Captain, 16 points
The finale was a back-and-forth: Maretto from the line to counter-overtake Pesaro; Riccardo Casella for 85-84; Stazzonelli for 86-85 Pesaro; then an error by Casella, another basket by a great Stazzonelli to give him a three-point margin 1:11 from the siren, with a time-out by Coach Michele Catalani. The last 71 seconds are worth remembering. Upon returning, Lonati, the boy who made important baskets this season, scored the equalizing triple. Maretto tries to respond, Fainke captures the attacking rebound, Garavaglia recovers the ball with 35 seconds left and Samuele Miccoli scores the score 90-88 with 19 seconds left. This time Pesaro wants to organize the attack. Maretto, one of the best, equalizes again, but ten seconds later the smallest of the team, but big at heart, the captain of this group, Riccardo “Boom Boom” Casella cements his history by scoring the triple of the victory, 93-90 .
Samuele Miccoli, 10 points and six assists
Victoria Libertas Pesaro-EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 90-93
Vuelle Pesaro: Aloi, Di Francesco 7, Sparacca, Colotti 3, Stazzonelli 26, Maretto 17, Ghiselli, Sablich 8. Dragomanni, Fainke 21, Stazi 5, Siepi 3.
Olimpia Milan: Box 19 (1/2 2pt, 4/6 3pt, 5/5 tl, 2 r, 5 a), Miccoli 10 (4/8 2pt, 0/3 3pt, 2/2 tl, 4 r, 6 a), Karem (0/1, 2 r), Toffanin (0/2), Youssef, Suigo 6 (3/5 2pt, 0/1 3pt, 6 r, 2 stops), Lonati 18 (2/4 2pt, 4/9 3pt, 2/3 tl, 3 r, 2 rec), Garavaglia 9 (1/2 2pt, 2/7 3pt, 1/3 tl, 4 r, 2 a, 4 rec), Ceccato, Badalau 25 (5/13 2pt, 4/8 3pt, 3/5 tl, 12 r, 2 a), Van Elswyk (0/2), Marcucci 6 (3/4 2pt, 0/1 3pt).
2024-05-04 18:42:04
#Box #19s #Pesaro #final
