Girona victory in Palau

The senior gets his fifth straight win

| Sunday, 22 December 2019

Básquet Girona has added its thirteenth victory of the season, the last of the year, against Barça in Palau. The match was contested until the last possessions with options for both teams: Girona from the paint (20/39) and Blaugrana from the triple (14/31). Gerard Sevillano has completed a decisive individual performance (23 points, 9 rebounds and 30 rating) which has given continuity to Girona’s good game in a fantastic basketball atmosphere.

The first Blaugrana basket was their only advantage in the first period. The senior responded with a 9-0 run that made the first difference in the first election. Three consecutive local three-pointers, two by Herbert Graham and one by Menno Dijkstra, have overcome the ten-point barrier in the fifth minute of play. The Blaugrana have also reduced the distance from the outside, at the same time extending the pressure throughout the court (21-17).

The visiting team continued with the same dynamics and effectiveness in the game both with and without the ball and neutralized the two initial local baskets with a partial score of 0-8. The Blaugrana have continued to find alternatives both inside and outside, with Juanmi Marcos in toned (12 points and 16 ratings) but he has never managed to disengage. A three-pointer by Sàbat in the last moment brought the Girona team closer to three points (34-37).

In the restart, the senior was able to respond to the opponent’s opening basket with a partial 10-0, solid in defense and decisive in the counterattack. Two consecutive triples by Barça have put them back in the game and the match has become a constant back-and-forth that has fallen to the Girona side, with a triple in the last possession by an incisive Gerard Sevillano -18 points and 21 of assessment- (53-51).

In the last period, the Blaugrana managed to put themselves ahead once thanks to the outside shot – 12 of the 19 points of the partial came from the three-pointer – and an inspired Badji – 17 points in the second half. The senior, however, did not give in and continued to add from the paint with a 10-3 that put the victory on track despite the two consecutive Blaugrana triples (74-70).  

The next game of the seniors is the final of the LEB Plata cup next Saturday 28 at the municipal pavilion of Azpeitia against Juaristi ISB (19:00).

Statements by Álex Formento:

“First, to congratulate Jordi Trias for his extraordinary career. I think it was a well-deserved tribute to a player who has had a brilliant career. Second, congratulations to Básquet Girona for working so hard to generate an atmosphere as extraordinary as the one in Palau. I think that without this atmosphere we would not have succeeded, so the first basket was made by the club working very hard to have so many people today. I am very grateful and I want to congratulate everyone who organized the match.”

“We knew it was an extraordinarily physical team, very talented, that demands you, that takes you to play in midfield. We knew it would be like this, that it would pose many problems for us and for a large part of the match we did not resolve this physical duel to generate our chances and play fluidly. But without having succeeded we have not stopped fighting. I think that every basket was a little drama for all the players to overcome a defense and a game set up by Barça so excellently that it caused us a lot of problems. Congratulate Barça for the huge game they played, which could have fallen as much from their side as from ours.

“From here we are very happy and now we are going to Azpeitia to win the cup, because the finals are not enjoyed, we are neither prizes nor wafers: we are going to Azpeitia to win.”

Statistics

Photo: Sergi Geronès