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December 11, 2025
Livorno 11 December 2025 There is the midweek round, Pallacanestro Don Bosco hosts Prato Dragons
A few days after the splendid success in Certaldo, the first team of Pallacanestro Don Bosco takes to the parquet again, closing the midweek round of the Serie C Championship on Thursday evening. Giuseppe Di Manno’s men, in fact, host at the “PalaMacchia”, where they only lost to Sancat, one of the best equipped teams in the tournament, the Prato Dragons, who last season reached the playoff final.
The ranking also shows the value of the team still entrusted to the confirmed Banchelli; in fact, the Dragons are in second place, just two points from the top. After all, to appreciate the solidity of the Prato team, it is enough to scroll through the roster, in which there are authentic luxuries for the category, starting from the pair of playmakers made up of Manfredini, son of the former Italian national football team Manfredini Sisostri, and Balducci, promoted to the National B team last year with Quarrata. Manfredini, in fact, travels at almost 14 points with his shoes tied, while Balducci stops at 12.3.
The power forward Marini also scored in double figures (11.1), but the various Pacini, Goretti, Catalano and the veterans Smecca and Staino should not be underestimated. In short, a truly equipped team, to beat which you will need a top match, made up of a lot of defensive aggression and a lot of verve in attack, along the lines of what was done last Saturday in Certaldo.
Coach Di Manno is also fully aware of this and presents the 40′ of the “PalaMacchia” like this:
“We are going to face, in the midweek round, a top-level team like the Prato Dragons, which boasts a top-level roster, with some players, I’m thinking of Manfredini and Balducci, who represent a luxury for this category.
We will be facing an experienced and deep team, built to stay permanently at the top of the table. For us – continues coach Di Manno – it is an important test, an opportunity to really understand where we are in our journey.
We will have to be very careful and good at containing their physicality and their pace. In matches like this the level rises and we can’t afford breaks; the goal is to compete right from the initial tap-off, showing personality and trying to transfer the progress made in recent weeks onto the pitch. In summary, a difficult match but one that will help us a lot to grow.”
Appointment for this evening, Thursday 11 December, at the “PalaMacchia”, with a tap-off scheduled for 9.15pm

