Sports Newsroom, 16 July. The Spanish under-17 basketball team succeeded, today, Saturday, in the Hungarian city of Debrecen, to qualify for the women’s World Cup final in this category by defeating France 66-59 in the semi-final match after overcoming the defects that amounted to 14 points.
The Spanish national team will face the United States, which categorically eliminated in the second semi-final from Canada (87-57).
Led by the successful Ayana Martin (20 points) and by the Awa Fam bordered by a double double (12 points and nine rebounds), the team coached by Cristina Cantero knew how to recover from their poor start and grew as the minutes went by. He even managed to complete the comeback in a great final quarter in which he outdid his opponent.
The French strike is the first, 9-0 in the first three minutes that forced the Spanish coach to stop the match to put order. Their players began to attack, although the shooting rates were not good, and Gala, who did not slow down, went up 9 (11-20) in the first half thanks to the points of Ramona Vita, Ines Slahi and Dominic Malunga.
After the start of the second half, the Spaniards continued to feel uneasy, although at least their best success of the treble allowed them to get closer to the scoreboard and begin to believe in their chances. From 15-26 it moved to 21-26 after two hits from the ocean by Blau Tor and Iyana MartÃn forcing the French coach, Vincent Bordeaux, to request some time to avoid further damage.
The break was reached as France dominated 26-33, although with greater parity thanks to the fact that Spain put extra gear into their game. After going through the changing rooms, the players coached by Cristina Cantreau came out with the clearest ideas. As the minutes passed, the differences were reduced and a new growth spurt of the Spaniards allowed them to reach the last ten minutes alive (43-48, min 30).
Spain continued to speed up its options and improve on both sides of the field at the start of the last quarter, balancing the score. Two free throws from Awa Fam Thiam tied the semi-final at 51 points with six minutes remaining.
Awa Fam itself continued to do damage to the paint, and after finishing 12-3, the Spaniards went up four and went on to take the win. Although Malunga returned the advantage to the French, it was a mirage as Spain no longer missed out on the final match ticket and took the World Cup medal.
In the gold match, the United States awaits him on Sunday, as they easily beat Canada in a match judged in the first quarter with a score of 27-9.
McKinley Randolph, with 14 points, and Joe Watkins, with 13 points, were their most notable offensive references, although three other players, Cambridge Gallon, Jaden Donovan and Morgan Chile, made it to the top ten.
This will be the third time that the United States and Spain meet in the Grand Final. In Amsterdam 2012 the Americans won 75-62, and in Plzen 2014 they won by 77-75. EFE
rd- asc / jap
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