Bertram plays a good game, Bonacini freezes her at the siren
Zeus Energy Group Rieti-Bertram Derthona 78-77
(26-15, 42-38, 53-54, 66-66)
Scoreboards:
Rieti: Annibaldi ne, Berrettoni, Tomasini 15, Casini 15, Toscano 15, Conti 7, Gigli 6, Jones 10, Carenza 8, Bonacini 2, Adegboye. Coach Rossi
Derthona: Alibegovic 12, Blizzard 19, Ndoja 11, Ugolini, ne Garri 6, Lusvarghi 2, Viglianisi 7, Bertone 11, Gergati, Spizzichini 9. Coach Ramondino
Defeat in the sprint for Bertram Derthona who played a game of great character against Rieti, surrendering only in extra time: what decided a hard-fought and very balanced match - which saw continuous overtaking and counter-overtaking in the score - was a tap-in by Bonacini at overtime expires. Low-scoring start to the match, thanks to two excellent defences: it is Rieti - who, already forced to give up Nikolic, loses Adegboye after a few seconds of the match - who leads in scoring in the first minutes of the game. It is the plays of Tomasini and Casini that allow the home team to produce the first break in the match (16-9 at 7'): in the final part of the half the three-point baskets by Conti and Casini give Zeus Energy Group the advantage in double figures (26-15 at 10'). The increase in the defensive intensity of coach Ramondino's team, without Lydeka, absent due to injury, in the second quarter allows the guests to reduce their gap: after Viglianisi's lay-up, which makes it 30-24, coach Rossi stop the game. The partial in favor of the Bianconeri also continues in the subsequent actions: the guests overtake the score (34-35 at 17') with Alibegovic's triple. At the end of the first half, a couple of plays by Toscano put Rieti ahead 42-38 at halftime. After Tomasini's basket that opens the ball in the third period, Bertram finds good offensive solutions that allow her to lead again in the score (44-45 after Bertone's lay-up): the subsequent technical for flopping given to Toscano is capitalized by the Bianconeri, who further extended their lead with Garri's triple (44-49 in the 25th minute). In the moment of maximum difficulty of the match, the home team found an emotional reaction that allowed coach Rossi's team to impact the match at 51 points, forcing coach Ramondino to stop the game. Baskets by Conti and Blizzard - three points - close the third period: Derthona leads 53-54. In the last quarter the defenses of both teams take center stage, limiting the opponents' offensive initiatives: the Bianconeri are still trying to increase the score and, after Viglianisi's basket on the counterattack which makes it 55-60, coach Rossi interrupts the operations. Rieti loses Toscano in the 35th minute following his second technical foul for flopping but finds the new overtaking (64-61 in the 37th minute) with Tomasini's triple, which forces coach Ramondino to stop the game. In the final, after having reached -5, Tortona found a new draw at 66 with Ndoja's basket 13 seconds from the end. Carenza loses the ball on the home team's final offensive possession, but Alibegovic's triple fails to score: it's overtime at the PalaSojourner. In extra time the balance on the pitch remains between the two teams, who respond blow for blow to the opponents' baskets: Bertram regains the advantage (72-73 with 1'30" to go) with a basket by Ndoja at the end of 24 seconds. Zeus Energy Group overtakes with two free throws from Tomasini and takes a full possession advantage (76-73) with Gigli's basket 14 seconds from the end. The subsequent technical foul called against Tomasini was capitalized by the guests, who regained the lead with Blizzard's triple (76-77 with 3 seconds left).
Thus coach Marco Ramondino at the end of the match: ˝We often went beyond our limits in terms of physical effort and found good offensive solutions even though it was difficult to find advantages against their defensive changes: it's a shame not to have capitalized on the performance with the result in the last action. We entered the match emphasizing Rieti's physicality and ability to play through contact, which is one of their strengths. The loss of Adegboye forced them to propose a quintet with three big men, huge for the A2: after having had difficulties for some actions, we expanded the field with small quintets with Ndoja as number '5' which allowed us to build good shots . In extra time we decided to play the last action starting from the baseline to find a dynamic solution in order not to have the difficulty of playing statically against Rieti's physical size. I believe that what Blizzard did at the end of overtime should represent normality: recently I have seen several players become protagonists of these gestures of sportsmanship. We must continue to work because we have two games to make up for those ahead of us in the standings, it is necessary for us to score points˝.
