Emilia to forget
DERTHONA BEARS – One hundred 60-71
DERTHONA: Rotondo 29, Vitali 8, Stanojevic ne, Gioria 4, Venuto 3, Gatti 5, Samoggia 2, Strotz, Viglianisi 9, Candela ne. All Arioli
hundred: Mabilia, Bona 13, Govoni ne, Ikangi 4, Nieri 2, Di Trani 20, Scomparin 4, Carretti 16, Silimbani 7, Andreani 5.
The hot air of early spring is not good for Derthona and, even more so, the air from Emilia is bad. After the burning defeat in Piacenza and the unfortunate exit from the Italian Cup in Rimini, the Bianconeri also lost their unbeaten home record against Cento from Ferrara. Unlike the first leg when our team actually prevailed by 65-87 (moreover without Gioria, injured, and with Samoggia at half service) the Ferrara players present themselves in Tortona as well as with the top scorer of the group Di Trani and the expert along Carretti also with the external innovations of Scomparin (Olimpia Milano school) and Andreani from the Marche, acquired in the meantime, proving to be a team that aims to recover in the playoffs what it did not achieve in the first part of the championship.
The guests' propensity to attack immediately highlights Derthona's problems in this period: they allow too many easy penetrations and lose important rebounds. On the other hand, in attack, thanks to Venuto's departure on the bench not in the best of conditions, the circulation is not freed up properly and against the opponent's zone the solutions are always forced with poor percentages. Result: Cento is already ahead after a few minutes, closing the first half 14-21.
In the second quarter things don't seem to be improving: some initiatives from Vitali keep us afloat at the beginning but then, with a few too many lost balls, the deficit rises to 13 points and we have to wait for Gatti to enter the field to notice the first trend reversal. Two free throws plus a bomb from "Jimmy" let the home team breathe and a providential triple from Venuto at the end of the half left some hope for the PalaCamagna crowd, sending everyone to the locker room down 7 at 31-38.
When the game resumed, Arioli seemed to have found the right solution: driven by Viglianisi's energy and thanks to Rotondo's solidity under the boards, in the middle of the quarter we were at -2 at 40-42. But in the last 4 minutes a 15-4 run, with too many offensive rebounds conceded, almost definitively knocks out the locals (44-57).
The discouragement seems to take off at the beginning of the last half with Cento even reaching +16, then with the awakening of Samoggia, until then unrecognizable, confidence returns to 50-60 in the 4th minute but Viglianisi's 5th foul shortly after, he practically extinguishes the timid Juventus reaction. From there to the siren (60-71) all that needs to be noted is Gioria's resistance and Rotondo's baskets (29 final points): but the individual qualities are not enough to defeat the Ferrarese, much less to get out of this bad period.
Evidently for Derthona something is no longer the same as before: there is some relaxation, but to aim high we must not give up and rediscover as soon as possible the collective understanding of the best days, both on the pitch and in the changing rooms. Next Sunday we change region: destination Tuscany, with another delicate match in Castelfiorentino fighting for access to the playoffs and galvanized by the victory in Empoli.
In the meantime, Fortitudo has recovered with just two points in the standings, even if next Sunday they will have their problems on the hot parquet of Piombino, which in fifteen days will be the next guest of the PalaCamagna in the new seasonal time of Saturday evening at 21pm.
