Derthona 85 Trapani 64: the news
Convincing home victory in a packed Oltrepò stadium for coach Cavina's boys. A different Trapani was expected, fresh from the overwhelming victory in the debut against Omegna but the final, a heavy 85-64, is a credit to the Piedmontese rather than a demerit to the Sicilians.
Brooks opened the scoring with a triple, immediately replied by Tommasini. Trapani struggled to establish himself under the basket and in the early stages of the match exploited his ability to open the court to punish from the arc again with Tommasini. Trapani's first advantage was extinguished under the blows of Garri and Reati. Griffin broke the deadlock in the second half with a -2 basket, but it would be the visitors' last reaction: partial 9-0 for the home team and immediately after Tortona's breakaway up to +16 with Bianchi's triple and free throws from the Spissu duo. Brooks.
At halftime the scoreboard read 43 to 29 for the locals. Trapani tries to react but Tortona finally escapes. Partial 10-0 with five points from Marks, lead extended to twenty-four points with fifteen minutes to play. A triple from Renzi and the first basket from Mays represent the guest's best effort to get to -17, but in defense Trapani finds no solution other than a foul. Spissu, Bianchi and Simoncelli go to the line, no errors arrive and the last quarter opens at 65-47. The home team regained the +20 with the usual Brooks and put the success on ice, lowering the tension only towards the end when Trapani got close to -15 but it wasn't enough.
BEARS TORTONA-LIGHTHOUSE CONAD TRAPANI 85-64 (16-12, 43-29, 65-47)
TORTONA: Spissu 10, Reati 11, Marks 7, Garri 12, Brooks 19, Riva none, Antonietti none, Frattallone none, Simoncelli 16, Maghet none, Bianchi 8, Ammannato 2. Coach: Cavina.
TRAPANI: Renzi 16, Tommasini 12, Ganeto 6, Viglianisi 4, Griffin 7, Mays 5, Gloria ne, Chessa 5, Molteni ne, Filloy 9. Coach: Ducarello.
Coach Cavina is visibly satisfied when he arrives in the press room but immediately warns, remembering that "sooner or later we will lose a match. We are not phenomena now and we will not be dupes then." Specifically about the match, he recalls that "it wasn't an easy match to interpret, we had to do different things compared to Rome. The boys did it. I always see the team working hard and hard during the week and this is the reward for our efforts. Regardless of budgets and names, the difference is always the attitude. Usually I don't talk about individuals but I want to make an exception for Simoncelli and Ammannato who played despite the former's lack of breath and the latter's precarious physical condition. We had chosen to increase the pressure to prevent the ball from reaching the basket too much and we succeeded despite there still being a lot of work to do in defense but I repeat, the attitude of the boys is an excellent sign. Now let's go back to the gym already thinking about the next home match against Omegna."
