It’s a day of final verdicts at the Pala Di Concilio, where the Under 17 Eccellenza National Finals conclude today: Conforama Varese finished in third place, beating Dolomiti Energia Trento by the sound of the siren.
At 6.30pm Umana Reyer Venezia and Orange1 Bassano will be on the pitch for the match that is worth the tricolour.
ARTICLE BEING UPDATED
Third-fourth place final
Dolomiti Energia Trento-Conforama Varese 58-59 (15-11; 18-9; 19-26; 6-13)
Third place goes to Conforama Varese, which closes its excellent Agropoli Finals by overcoming Dolomiti Energia at the end of an exciting “final” and resolved only at the buzzer by the three-point play converted by Ronny Brad Ewanke. At the start, Placinschi (10 in the first 20′) and Acunzo allowed Trento to take an initial significant lead, on the other hand it was Realini’s three consecutive triples that kept Varese upright, which appeared tarnished after the lost quarter-final yesterday in the finale with Venice. Bottelli went into the long interval with just 2 points to his credit, Cattapan’s rainbow earned Trento +12 at 25-13 and then Dorigotti’s triple arrived just before the siren for 33-20. At the start of the third set, Ewanke’s two dunks shook Varese, who then came back into contact with triples from Bosio and Zanitelli. As with the siren of the second quarter, the magic of Dolomiti Energia also arrived in the third quarter, making it 52-46 with another crazy triple from Michetti. Cattapan extended the lead to +8 but Varese didn’t give up and point after point built the comeback that took her to -1 with 57″ left to go with Ewanke’s tap-in. Ewanke himself returned to the line 9″ from the siren at 57-56 for Trento but missed both free throws. In the other line Vittorio Triggiani made it 1/2 and so Varese had the chance to win it, with the offensive rebound converted into a basket again by Ewanke, who then with the extra 5 tenths from the end sealed the red and white overtaking. Up until that point, Gardini’s center was 1/7 on free throws. Immense joy for Conforama, much regret for Trento who controlled the match for large stretches. So coach Molin: “We were not solid in the first half in maintaining a lead that had become significant at a certain point. Well done to them for believing in it until the end, however: it hurts but it is part of the game, it is an experience that we must treasure and that we will need later on.” Coach Gardini’s comment, visibly satisfied at the end of the match: “Evidently this was our destiny, to lose the semi-final against Venezia at the end and then win it today in the same way. For us it is an incredible joy, we have arrived here with a team that has no players in the national team, many 2008s and a group that has won the Under 15 scudetto. Even the technical staff with whom I work have known each other for 20 years, it is wonderful get results this way. In the first half we were in mainly psychological difficulty, at the long interval I left the boys alone in the locker room and I think they understood on their own that this was not the way to end these Finals. In the second half they entered the field with a different face. Extraordinary.”
Dolomiti Energia Trento-Conforama Varese 58-59
Trento: Dorigotti* 11 (1/3, 3/8), Triggiani V.* 4 (1/4, 0/4), Triggiani T. (0/1), Cattapan* 14 (4/6, 1/11 ), Acunzo* 6 (2/6 from 3), Guerrini 3 (1/1 from 3), Iobstraibizer (0/1 from 3), Machetti 6 (0/2, 2/7), Austin ne, Zanella (0 /1), Delana ne, Placinschi* 14 (4/6, 2/7). All. Molin
Varese: Franceschet* 2 (1/4), Ghidini, Volpe ne, Zanitelli 12 (1/6, 3/8), Realini* 10 (0/2, 3/6), Slimani (0/1, 0/1 ), Tufano ne, Giani (0/2, 0/1), Bottelli* 10 (2/5, 1/6), Terlizzi ne, Bosio* 5 (1/1, 1/7), Ewanke* 20 (9 /13, 0/2). All. Gardini
Referees: Valletta, Di Salvo
THE ROLL OF HONOR
2024
2023 Blue Star
2022 Conforama Varese
2021 Not played
2020 Not played
2019 Blue Star
2018 Columbus Pgc Cantù
2017 Blue Star
2016 Pegaso Ragusa
2015 Dife Pistoia Basket 2000
2014 Unipol Virtus Bologna
2013 Armani Junior Milan
2012 Virtus Bologna
2011 Virtus Siena
