Dabrowa Górnicza and Olomoucko confirmed good form and the goal to advance further
BK REDSTONE Olomoucko – BC Geosan Kolín 113:88 (23:21, 37:24, 27:23, 26:20)
Scorers – Olomoucko: Bailey 29, McBrayer 23, Shawer 22, Žák 16, Adamu 11, Hemphill and Feštr 6
Scorers – Kolín: Halada 17, Smith 16, Goga 14, Štěpán 13, Redparth 12, Číž 8, Stegbauer 6, Novák 2
The home team did not have an ideal start and lost quickly. Adamu also collected two personal fouls in quick succession. Although Kolín tied the score at 17:17 after threes by Číž and Stegbauer, the end of the quarter was better for the home team, who led 23:21 before the start of the second quarter. They entered the game with a streak of seven points and created an interesting lead 30:21. The guests were still able to respond, and after fifteen minutes, Goga dropped five points in a row to 31:34. Olomoucko was then significantly helped by Žák. He scored eight points in quick succession to help the team take another promising eight-point lead. Bailey also achieved his goal, and the result was 60:45 after twenty minutes.
Olomoucko’s players brought their good mood from the locker room into the third quarter as well, and after the next four minutes, they were leading by twenty points when Adamu scored to make it 69:49. Home players continued to shoot, Bailey already reached twenty-three points by the end of the third period, and the score corresponded to 87:68 after three periods. In the last part, we were just waiting for the moment when the home team would conquer the hundred-point mark. After four minutes, Bailey took care of it with a free throw. In the end, Olomoucko worked their way to the highest victory of the season so far, when they defeated the opponent by twenty-five points.
Post-game quotes:
Andy Hipsher, coach of Olomoucko: “We played a good match until the very beginning. The scorers did well, we were productive and played as a team. We continued the established trend even after the break, that was important. We have a good competition, hopefully it will last.”
Lukáš Feštr, player of Olomoucko: “The game worked for us, we were able to dismantle the opponent’s attack. We did well in terms of shooting, we managed to get a key lead before halftime. It’s a shame that we’re not doing so well in the league. We would need to work on that one.”
Predrag Benáček, coach of Kolín: “Playing the same opponent for the second time in a row is not easy. The home team was ready for us, but we missed Petráš, who left the team. The opponent was better this time, he deservedly won. We only held on in the first quarter of the match, then we were already worse.”
Adam Goga, player of Kolín: “It’s been a lot for us, we’ve been playing the Wednesday-Saturday system for a long time, and we’re already quite tired. They were especially visible in defense. The attack was fine, but we couldn’t stop Olomouc under our basket.”
SLUNETA Ústí nad Labem – MKS Dabrowa Górnicza 79:84 (16:35, 28:11, 19:20, 16:18)
Scorers – SLUNETA: Pecka 18, Nichols 17, Váňa 14, Karlovský 10, Autrey 8, Žikla 6, Johnson 4, Haiblík 2
Scorers – Górnicza: Persons 18, Home and Garcia each 14, Carvacho 13, Kulikowski and Cabbil each 8, Slupinski 4, Wilczek 3, Piechowicz 2
In the next round of the Alpe Adria Cup, SLUNETA faced the winner of last year’s top Polish competition, MKS Dabrowa Gornicza. The visitors came to Ústí with spectacular form and completely dominated the first quarter, hitting eight threes out of 11 attempts! No wonder that after the first ten minutes, the scoreboard showed a score of 16:35. The stunned home players recovered during the break between the quarters and started to answer their opponents with the same coin in the second act, hitting five threes and improving their defense to win the second ten minutes (28:11). So it was 44:46 going into the locker room.
After the break, the players showed a close battle, and the game came to the last quarter, in which the home team was behind most of the time, but thanks to four quick points by Nichols and one basket by captain Pecka SLUNETA, they tied the game. But the visitors have Persons sinking a tough 3. Time is running out fast, and the ball goes to Lamb Autrey, with 52 seconds left in regulation time, when Lamb’s shot for 3 goes through the basket. The game is finally decided by people with another tough shot, this time a floater. On the other end, the home team’s Váňa had a chance to shoot for 3, but he didn’t make it, and ÚTtí has to stop the clock with a quick foul. The visitors secured the win in the last seconds from the free throw line.
Post-game quotes:
Jan Šotnar, coach of SLUNETA: “It’s hard to evaluate today. We had a bad start, but then I think we showed one of the best performances in a long time. We were good defensively, our offense was great, our bench played well, and we had ten players in the rotation today. The opponent was really good, I would compare it to a lighter Nymburk, and that’s a recipe for us. We must not sleep on the start on Sunday and be ready. If we play like this, then I’m not worried about us in the league.”
František Váňa, player of SLUNETA: “We knew that Gornica is a really tough opponent, they are fifth in the Polish league, and after all, it is a bit better than our competition. They gave us eight threes, and a lot of them were open. They played very well; we had to acclimate to it for a while, and by halftime, we managed to get back into the game. After the change of sides, there was a lot of tug of war, it was about who could hit more and who could defend more. The opponent had quality, but I think we also showed a good game and nice basketball. Even though we lost, I believe we will take a lot of positive things from today into the next games.”
Boris Balibrea, coach of Górnicza: “I am grateful for the win, it was a tough schedule for us. The way we entered the game showed how well prepared we are, and I want to compliment the whole coaching staff and players, they did a great job in a very short time. We completely lost focus in the second quarter, then the game evened out, but in the end we pulled it off.”
Tayler Persons, player of Górnicza: “It was a hard-fought game, it was good to travel and play in the Czech Republic, we played in a great atmosphere and the game was decided by a few possessions and it was a good game. We are grateful to the whole organization in Ústí nad Labem for their hospitality, and I believe that when we play again in our country, it will be another great game.”