We wondered if the Basket Club Bolzano, after the great performance in game one, would be able to repeat itself, now that the strong opponents built for the leap to A1 had taken the measure of the Bolzano team. Well yes, Captain Kotnis and his teammates not only repeated themselves, they further improved by taking their opponents to extra time and holding command of the match for long stretches and even by a wide margin, up to double figures.
A real battle, which began with the defeat of the guests who placed an eloquent 2 to 10, which however did not intimidate the BCB ready for the counter break, 9-2, which brought them to -1, and then closed the first quarter in perfect balance, 14-14. In the second, Alperia doesn’t take their foot off the accelerator and in just over 3 minutes they score an 11-0 lead, before maintaining it almost until the end and closing the first half on +7 (37-30).
The third quarter begins again in the BCB’s direction, when after a few seconds an elbow to the nose puts Licia Schwienbacher out of commission. Tortona takes advantage of the home team’s slip-up due to their teammate’s injury and impacts the match with 4 and a half minutes left. End of third 49-51.
The last 10 minutes of regular time begin and Basket Club Bolzano is still the first to score, for +1.
From that moment only a back and forth of great competitive spirit and we get to the last minute where Bolzano scores the +3 basket from long distance giving the idea of succeeding in the feat, with 3 seconds however the class of Premasunac comes out and brings the his team in extra time.
Even in extra time no one gives up and the competitive spirit remains very high with the Piedmontese team managing to take a 5 point lead with -2 minutes left, but the Bolzano team not giving up and with 6 seconds left to go they are back 72 to 74 and ball in hand due to an infringement of opponents’ steps. There is only time left for one last shot for the victory, which however crashes on the rim.
Alperia Bolzano therefore exits the play-offs with their heads held high after having come close to achieving the feat twice in two head-to-head matches with a great coefficient of difficulty and competitiveness, a pleasure for the eyes to see this basketball in Bolzano.
Aside from the points, the BCB girls were all superlative, scoring double figures: Kotnis (13 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists) joined by Schwienbacher, Giordano, Egwoh, all three with 12 points. For Derthona: the driving force Premasunac (18 points and 14 rebounds), Attura 16 and Melchiori 11 points.
Congratulations to the winners and equally to the defeats, who more than ever have kept the name of Bolzano and the BCB high at a national level.
See you in the 2024/25 season again in A2.
Alperia Basket Club Bolzano – Autosped BCC Derthona Basket 72 – 74 (14-14, 37-30, 49-51, 63-63, 72-74)
ALPERIA BASKET CLUB BOLZANO: Kotnis* 13 (0/2, 4/6), Mazzucco NE, Schwienbacher* 12 (3/4, 2/8), Rainis* 9 (3/5, 1/1), Giordano 12 ( 2/8, 1/2), Cassini NE, Egwoh Alessia 12 (6/11, 0/1), Cela NE, Missanelli* 9 (3/11, 1/3), Vella* 5 (1/2, 1 /3), Fracaro NE, Kob NE
Coach: Sacchi R.
2-point shots: 18/43 – 3-point shots: 10/24 – Free throws: 6/10 – Rebounds: 37 8+29 (Kotnis 10) – Assists: 15 (Kotnis 5) – Stolen balls: 7 (Missanelli 3) – Turnovers: 14 (Kotnis 5) – Five Fouls: Missanelli
AUTOSPED BCC DERTHONA BASKET: Marangoni* 9 (2/4, 1/4), Premasunac* 18 (8/12 from 2), Cerino* 9 (3/5, 0/1), Espedale, Leonardi 4 (1/2 , 0/5), Baldelli 7 (2/2, 1/1), Gianolla, Thiam NE, Attura* 16 (4/11, 2/4), Castagna NE, Melchiori* 11 (3/5, 1/5 )
Coach: Cutugno O.
2-point shots: 23/43 – 3-point shots: 5/22 – Free throws: 13/20 – Rebounds: 42 11+31 (Premasunac 14) – Assists: 10 (Marangoni 4) – Stolen balls: 4 (Attura 2) – Turnovers: 17 (Gianolla 4)
Referees: Barbieri M., Cattani F.
