Gulf Coast Dominates: Palatenda Wins, Ravenna Falls

Piombino returns to being a fort, third consecutive victory for the Gulf at home

In a very hot climate, pushed by their fans, the Gulf wins a very tough match, 57 fouls committed by the two teams, but demonstrates that it has acquired a precise identity. That of a team that doesn’t give up on mistakes and always knows how to react with will and positivity. Of course, having a Raivio in the engine is no small feat, but every Sunday different players stand out as protagonists. Fabiani’s performance was very good this time, in a match that saw him lose on the road, first Carnevale due to injury and then Ammannato due to fouls, the big man from Forlì made up for these deficits well. Ravenna is a difficult team to beat, but once again coach Bianchi was able to find the right countermeasures to stop the Romagna team. Conceded very little from the perimeter, 15 three-pointers against the 26 average that coach Auletta’s boys had, forcing Ravenna to take internal routes. The guests did well in the first two quarters, with Jackstas, the young Morena and Naoni, but fell short.
The match is very balanced for the first 15 minutes, with the teams alternating in command but never going beyond possession of the lead. At the first half the score was 18 to 19 for the guests, in the second the first advantage beyond possession went to the Gulf at half-time, plus 4 with Menconi’s free throws. In a quarter where the yellow and blue also found solutions from distance, with Ammannato and Ferraresi at the start, in the final, again with Ammannato and Campori, they reached the maximum advantage at plus 6, but the young Paiano on the other side contained the escape attempt, stopping the score at 39 to 35 at the long break. In the third set, at the 23rd minute, Campori, fed by Raivio, opens a mini break which, with Giunta’s bomb and Raivio’s long two, brings the yellow and blue team up to 11. In the middle, however, Carnevale’s injury, which came in an attempt to recover a ball, diving to the ground. An empty pass follows with 3 turnovers, which brings Ravenna closer to within 4, but Piombino seems able to react, Raivio takes charge of the offensive phase, while on the other side Dron lets himself get nervous, gets a double technical and is sent off. The Gulf thus manages to close the partial lead 64 to 57. In the final quarter, Ferraresi brings his team to plus 8, but another missed pass arrives, wrong conclusions and turnovers allow Ravenna to get back to minus 2, halfway through. It still takes almost 2′ for the Gulf to get out of the negative moment and they come out of it by making up for two losses with as many recoveries in defence. The final thrills arrive on Naoni’s minus-3 bomb, 2′ and 30” from the siren and on the potential equalizer, missed by Jakstas shortly after. Baskets from Fabiani and Campori close the match for the plus 9 with 1′ to go. It ends 82 to 76, with Piombino taking 4 points off the playout zone and being able to keep an eye on those playins, which now seem within reach, given that now, in addition to the double success against Casoria, it also boasts the one against Ravenna and on Sunday it goes to visit Jesi, which occupies ninth position and is now just two points away.

by Stefanini Stefano (Basket Golfo communication area)

Solbat Golfo Piombino – OraSì Ravenna 82-76 (18-19, 21-16, 25-22, 18-19)
Solbat Golfo Piombino: Nik Raivio 25 (9/13, 0/3), Luca Fabiani 14 (4/5, 0/0), Simone Giunta 10 (2/3, 1/3), Luca Campori 9 (2/2, 1/2), Marco Ammannato 6 (0/1, 2/4), Gabriele Ferraresi 6 (1/3, 1/3), Nicolò Ianuale 5 (2/6, 0/3), Marco Menconi 5 (0/1, 0/1), Emanuele Carnevale 2 (1/2, 0/0), Franesco Forti 0 (0/0, 0/3), Ramiro Guaita 0 (0/0, 0/0), Gianvito Pipitone 0 (0/0, 0/0)
Tiri liberi: 25 / 31 – Rimbalzi: 32 9 + 23 (Nik Raivio 10) – Assist: 17 (Nik Raivio 4)
OraSì Ravenna: Alessandro Naoni 15 (6/8, 1/3), Francesco Paolin 14 (4/8, 1/2), Rolandas Jakstas 13 (6/9, 0/2), Enzo damian Cena 10 (1/4, 2/3), Alessandro Feliciangeli 6 (0/1, 0/1), Tommaso Morena 6 (2/3, 0/0), Gabriel Dron 5 (2/3, 0/1), Davide Paiano 4 (2/6, 0/0), Maurizio Ghigo 3 (0/1, 1/3), Kevin Brigato 0 (0/0, 0/0)
Free throws: 15 / 21 – Rebounds: 31 8 + 23 (Rolandas Jakstas 7) – Assists: 18 (Francesco Paolin 7)