CJ BASKET TARANTO – LUX CHIETI 85-75
Partial: 27-24, 20-20, 19-14, 19-17
CJ Basketball Taranto: Giovanni Ragagnin 18 (4/8, 3/9), Francesco Reggiani 16 (6/9, 1/4), Gianmarco Conte 15 (4/8, 1/6), Matteo Chiapparini 14 (4/7, 2/ 5), Matteo Ambrosin 11 (4/8, 1/6), Martin Kovachev 11 (5/8, 0/0), Francesco Montanaro 0 (0/0, 0/1), Matteo Minelli 0 (0/0, 0/1), Stefano Abbate 0 (0/0, 0/0), Stefano Pichierri 0 (0/0, 0/0), Eugenio Gigante 0 (0/0, 0/0). All. Cottignoli.
STATE – Free throws: 7 / 16 – Rebounds: 52 10 + 42 (Gianmarco Conte 18) – Assists: 17 (Giovanni Ragagnin 5).
LUX Chieti: Loris Masciopinto 22 (5/6, 4/9), Thomas Reale 15 (4/8, 1/8), Riccardo Febbo 13 (5/11, 1/5), Gabriele Berra 10 (3/9, 1/ 6), Enzo damian Cena 9 (2/7, 1/7), Simone Gelormini 6 (3/3, 0/1), Roberto Di iorio 0 (0/0, 0/0), Alessandro De sipio 0 (0 /0, 0/0), Leonardo Ciribeni 0 (0/0, 0/0), Alessandro Paesano 0 (0/0, 0/0). All. Aniello.
STAT LUX – Free throws: 7 / 10 – Rebounds: 45 10 + 35 (Riccardo Febbo 14) – Assists: 12 (Gabriele Berra 4)
Referees: De Rico Mattia from Venice and Corrias Chiara from Cordovado (PN). Spectators: approximately 400
Lots of smiles, hugs and pats on the back. CJ Basket Taranto closes its National Serie B championship in style. On the last day of the regular season of group B the rossoblu beat Lux Basket Chieti 85-75, granting an encore compared to the success 14 days ago against Mestre.
A great performance, once again, by coach Cottignoli’s team, capable of always leading in the score by exploiting the characteristics of their players, without too many drops and blackouts against Chieti. All the players performed at great levels, finishing in double figures, without exception with Ragagnin at 18, Reggiani 16 and Conte 15 (both double doubles, even 18 rebounds for the captain), Chiapparini 14, Ambrosin and Kovachev 11. The contribution of the Virtus boys from the bench was inevitable with many minutes for Montanaro.
Coach Cottignoli confirms the quintet of the last races with Ragagnin, Reggiani, Conte, Ambrosin and Kovachev. Coach Aniello without Maggio and with Ciribeni on the bench just for the sake of rhyme, puts the former Cena, Bera, Reale, Masciopinto and Febbo on the pitch.
Taranto starts off on the right foot with Reggiani and Ragagnin’s triple. Chieti takes a few possessions but enters the game and turns it around with Berra’s three-point play but above all the former Cena who scores the triple to overtake, 7-10. Captain Conte responds with the same coin by drawing at 10. The match is pleasant, played at a good pace, the two teams without ranking pressure face each other openly, at times it seems like an offseason match. Chiapparini breaks the balance by responding to the fielding with a triple to make it 21-17. Chieti isn’t up for it and with Reale and Febbo they turn it around again with a 5-0 break. The CJ puts its nose forward again with Ragagnin’s triple, again point by point, and Chiappartini takes care of the score again almost at the siren of the first quarter with the basket making it 27-24.
At the start of the second quarter Ambrosin scores the +5 then Masciopinto lights up, his first triple brings the new score to 31, the second the overtaking 33-34. If Masciopinto calls, Reggiani responds, counter-overtaking and break by Taranto signed by Chiapparini and Kovachev, 9-0 for the rossoblu +8 which forces Chieti to timeout. From which comes the scheme for Reale’s triple, Taranto is unfazed and builds a great counterattack with a dunk from Reggiani primed by Ambrosin, there is also showtime and PalaMazzola likes it. Even if the usual Masciopinto scores a couple of baskets before the break that reduce the gap, Taranto goes into the break “only” ahead 47-44.
Taranto comes out of the locker room strong. Ambrosin starts the third quarter furiously, 7 points in a row, Ragagnin is not far behind, 2 baskets alone, 11-4 partial score for +10 CJ. Febbo and Masciopinto, however, hit two triples that halve the gap, and then the captain’s heart is needed, who finds a couple of baskets, a few trips to the line, and allows Taranto to close at the siren ahead 66-58.
CJ started the last quarter of the season in a great way: triple by Ragagnin and basket by Reggiani with assist by Chiapparini, +13 and maximum advantage of the match. Chieti tries to react once again with Reale and Febbo but this time Taranto responds blow for blow with Conte and Reggiani, indeed when Ragagnin burns his retina again the scoreboard says +15. It’s done, Chiapparini’s triple is the exclamation point on the sixth victory of the season, the green light for the entry of the various under Virtus, from Abbate to Gigante via Minelli while Montanaro reaches double figures in terms of minutes.
At the sound of the last siren, a bit like the bell on the last day of school, CJ Basket Taranto ideally and physically embraces each other in a collective embrace, the team group, technical staff, managers with the PalaMazzola public. The head held high, the smile on the lips with the soul at peace of someone who gave and did everything in a tremendously difficult season with that hint of bitterness thinking about what could have been and wasn’t. With the desire to try again. More to the point!
CJ TARANTO PRESS OFFICE
Tags: Serie Taranto bids farewell championship dominating Chieti
