Inveready Gipuzkoa Basket could not have ended the year better. Good news is piling up for Sergio García’s team. Today they won … to Alega Cantabria, a rival that was tied in the standings. The victory is the sixth in a row for the San Sebastian team, which for the first time this season manages to lead, 7-6. The public responded and the stands showed the best image of the course. And the debut of a Gipuzkoan, Ordiziarra Eneko Martínez, even in the final stages, is always something to celebrate. The bad news came when Varela skidded and with a bad gesture he was left lying on the ground with pain in his back. Helped by the coaching staff, he had to go directly to the locker room. We will have to see the evolution.
GBC dominated a complicated match from start to finish in which they were forced to fight from the opening whistle. Johnson stole a ball that ended up becoming the first basket for Torrelavega’s team while the public was still queuing to enter the Amenabar Arena. Korsantia responded and Nicolau put on Superman’s cape. He led the home team’s takeoff by punishing Yu, 2.24 meters tall, in the area. McGhie joined the party, with three triples that gave the home team an 11-point lead, 25-14.
Lolo Encinas, angry, tried to find out the reaction of his people to the San Sebastian hurricane. Jalen Tate with 6 points left the difference at 15. Inveready, finding more success in the rotation, closed the first period with a good feeling, 29-14.
The Cantabrian team trusted their chances and began to row, Kande with a dunk managed to reduce the difference to the psychological barrier of ten points, 37-27. Yu was beginning to assert his physical superiority under hoops. A block by the Chinese center made the fans who came to Amenabar this Sunday raise their hands to their heads.
Inveready Gipuzkoa Basket
Varela (7), McGhie (20), Motos (4), Korsantia (11) y Nicolau (8) -quinteto inicial- Ngom (14), Tate (10), Hanzlik (4), Ansorregi (5), Maiza (5) y Eneko Martinez (0).T3:7/21 T2:23/40 T1:21/27 REB:32 ASIS:13 ROB:6 PERD:13 VAL:98
88
–
77
Cantabria
Rodríguez (7), Martínez (9), Yu (7), Hernandez (7) y Johnson (17) -initial quinteto- Powell (6), Lugarini (6), xAlderete (0), Lutete (14) y Kande (4). T3:8/21 T2:19/34 T1:15/19 REB:25 ASIS:10 ROB:8 PERD:13 VAL:71
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Partials:
29-14, 46-39 (rest), 65-56 and 88-77 (final). -
Referees:
Hurtado Almansa, Caamaño Muñoz and Gallego Rodriguez.
Equality was the protagonist between two teams playing long possessions but with a lot of rhythm. Before the break Reggie Johnson penetrated without thinking twice to reduce the difference to 9, but the Chicago player, his team’s top scorer in the first half with 10 points, wanted more and was able to take advantage of a key loss by the home team in the final seconds to reach the basket alone and make it 46-39 at halftime.
After passing through the locker room, Inveready once again offered glimpses. Three triples by the San Sebastian team with Nacho Varela and McGhie with a hot wrist and Javi Nicolau being the smartest in the class drawing important fouls made the San Sebastian team escape in the Illumbe light, 59-44. Alega Cantabria was not in the game and Lolo Encinas was forced to stop time.
After Varela’s setback, the team seemed to get lost, with some errors that Cantabria knew how to take advantage of to reduce the gap. Inveready led by 9 at the beginning of the last ten minutes, but the feeling was of equality in Amenabar, 65-56.
The last quarter was marked by the superiority in the interior game that the locals found in the paint. The visitors were not able to stop Korsantia (11 points) and Ngom (14 and 5 blocks) who did and undid as they pleased. Also worth highlighting are Tyler McGhie’s 20 points with 5 triples.
