Towards the Final Four

The team has a great game in Coruña, with an excellent last period, and access to the Final Four for the first time (76-85)

| Thursday, 02 June 2022

Básquet Girona is a Final Four team after beating Leyma Coruña in the third game of the series, the first on the opponent’s court (76-85). Although the Galician team led the scoreboard for most of the game, Girona never gave up and, thanks to an excellent last quarter, turned the tide to claim a historic victory . Marc Gasol (19 points and 30 rating) and Maxi Fjellerup (19 points and 5/5 in triples) have been the main notes of a great choral symphony. 

The match started with the defenses taking the lead in what was happening on the floor (5-4, 5′) but then the offensive scenario took on more weight: Coruña from the perimeter and Girona inside. Four three-pointers from eight attempts have allowed Coruña to dominate the scoreboard in the first quarter and light up the local stand in front of Girona’s interior presence (5/9). A Girona basket gave way to the second ten minutes (16-15).

In the second quarter, the intensity on both sides of the court continued and Coruña was the first to take the lead after a triple (26-18). However, a partial 0-9 Girona has not allowed the Galician team to move away from the electronic. Coruña took the lead again with two three-pointers (36-30), but Girona did not give up, retracing their steps and tying the score with the opponent with a point shot at the end of the second quarter (38-37).

Although A Coruña again proved to be successful in the initial part of the rematch (45-39), Girona again took the lead and the Galician team did not take any more long lead after that from a tackle by Josep Franch (45-46) when Girona’s defense avoided Coruña’s good outside dynamics. The back-and-forth on the scoreboard continued until the end with each team measuring each action very well. A free kick by Nick Ward has allowed the locals to keep the lead (57-56). 

The last quarter has been Girona. Not only in the partial (19-29) but in the sensations of the game, always ahead and with increasingly solid defenses that challenged the rival options. Outside success in decisive moments has been the key (4/6 in three shots in the last period). Saturday with 57-59, Fjellerup with 64-65, Franch with 70-70 and Fjellerup with 72-75.  This last triple, with a minute and a half to go, put Girona on track for victory, allowing access to a final four for promotion to the ACB for the first time in its history.

POST-Match STATEMENTS: 

Jordi Sargatal: “I think we found the break point to know how to attack in this last quarter when we had to move the ball more and be able to attack in some hole we found. We were aware that the match was even and we were also lucky to find penetration situations and open shots.”