The Brent Ballers outplayed the Gintaras to take home a comfortable win of 47-19, and now advance to the CBL U14 Playoff Final where they stand one step away from being crowned this year’s champions.
Brent’s talented player, Pelayo Barredo, writes:
“Today was a great day for our U14’s team as we made it to the finals by working hard to win the game. Although the first half saw us start very strong on both offense and defense, we proved better on defense when pressuring and helping each other. Offense mainly consisted of great drives into the lane, creating fouls which gave us a lot of points, and dominance over the other team from the start. As we continued to dominate the game in the second half, we found ourselves too comfortable on offense which resulted in a lack of scoring. However, we managed to maintain the same intensity on defense which ensured we were up by 18 points in the final quarter and closed out the game with a 28 point margin.
“Today was a great day for our U14’s team as we made it to the finals by working hard to win the game. Although the first half saw us start very strong on both offense and defense, we proved better on defense when pressuring and helping each other. Offense mainly consisted of great drives into the lane, creating fouls which gave us a lot of points, and dominance over the other team from the start. As we continued to dominate the game in the second half, we found ourselves too comfortable on offense which resulted in a lack of scoring. However, we managed to maintain the same intensity on defense which ensured we were up by 18 points in the final quarter and closed out the game with a 28 point margin.
Well done to everyone in the team, including our coaches such as Eddy, Lawrence and Coach Wilson. It meant a lot to us to play with the support and encouragement from all the parents, families and friends who came out to watch. It was a great game for everyone and we are going to the finals to take on the Enfield Scorpions – let’s keep that intensity going!”
“Our team’s overall height, size and speed has been a real problem for most teams throughout the season and was on full display against Gintaras.
“Our game against the Lithuanian squad saw Sheyi Agbaje (6ft1) and Daniel Amah (6ft3) both dominate on the boards defensively whilst keep the plays alive offensively. Fabio Fernandes Resende played under control and made sure to get all his teammates good looks at scoring by putting them in places where they’d have the best chance to score, or make another play for someone else.
“Resende also made sure to keep the defense honest with attacking drives and making his shots. Santigo Toranzo and Christopher Allen continued to bring their great hustle and energy just like all season, which sparks the team as a whole. Fabio Mills and Émile Phillips showed their ball-handling skills by bringing the ball up the court under pressure to give Resende a break.
“Mills made a lot of great passes into his bigs which forced Gintaras to continually foul and lose two of their better and taller players to foul trouble.
“Overall, it was a solid game, and with a friendly against Greg City Academy U14s this coming Thursday, we will use this opportunity as preparation for the Enfield Scorpions in the CBL Playoff Final.”
