‘We are the story, no one should feel offended’. The incipit of one of Francesco De Gregori’s most famous hits is probably the ideal background of the emotions that permeated, at the sound of the last siren of the contest, the almost 1,400 spectators crammed inside the Arena to celebrate the designer feat The Molisana Magnolia Campobasso. The rossoblù write a new sensational page in their young history by entering the group of the best four teams in Italian women’s basketball, gliding into the playoff semi-final of the Techfind Serie A1 tournament in which the fioridappello will find Reyer Venezia, dominator of the regular season against whom, However, the Campobasso team managed to impose themselves within their friendly walls in the regular season.
HIT AND RESPONSE The attacks are the protagonists in the first minute of the game with the two teams always scoring. Triples from Morrison and Dedić excite the Arena crowd. The pace slows down a bit and the guests try to escape (8-13). Kunaiyi and Morrison report under the rossoblù. It is Trimboli who makes the overtaking, but at the siren of the first quarter the advantage is still Geassi (14-15).
PLANAR FLIGHT Morrison brings the inertia back to the rossoblù side. Sesto San Giovanni takes the lead again, but Kacerik’s triple gets the Arena crowd excited again. Mištinová scores +4 (21-17). The Lombards, with painstaking patience, are reported below. But Morrison scores again for full possession of the lead (23-20). Mištinová extends to plus five. Sesto San Giovanni, however, gets closer to within one at 25-24, forcing coach Sabatelli to call us a time-out. Mištinová scores again with a triple and then alternates from the free throw line (29-24). At the long interval, however, the Magnolias managed to still be ahead, actually widening the margin up to +7 (33-26).
ATTACKS POWERED The tension began to grip both attacks with over four minutes without baskets on both fronts upon returning from the locker rooms. Dedić’s triples increase the margin to four possessions (39-28). A 5-0 partial for the guests brings Sesto San Giovanni closer. In the 30th minute there are two full possessions of the lead for the steelflowers (39-33).
ABSOLUTE JOY Morrison opened the score from free throws in the fourth, but the offensive problems continued to be evident on both fronts. Sesto San Giovanni comes close to just one possession, but Quiñonez’s triple is worth +5 (44-39). Kunaiyi increases the margin to seven points (46-39). Trimboli widens it from the line to +9 (48-39). We then enter the trickle of systematic fouls, from which the Magnolias emerge triumphant, winning a historic semi-final.
WITH THE REPORT CLOSED In the press room, in the traditional post-match press conference, the rossoblù coach Mimmo Sabatelli with his assistant Giustino Altobelli presented themselves at the table. «We have written another page of history – argues the rossoblù head coach – because we had already written history with the fourth place finish in the regular season. Obviously then in the playoffs everything was reset. Furthermore, ours is a young team with relative experience for this type of competition. There could have been the fear of giving up, but, knowing these girls, this group, we knew that we were going to play with our backs against the wall for sure, but with the desire to go and win in Sesto San Giovanni and we did it with a great game and I believe that this last challenge led us to achieve a miracle, that of being among the top four in Italy, a source of pride for us and for the club”. «This result comes from afar because this is a team that started working in August – echoes his assistant – knowing how and where it wanted to arrive. I think we did more than we expected, but the credit goes to the girls who fully followed our idea of the game. The 41 points scored by Geas are the hallmark of our defense carried out throughout the championship. A further strength of this group was never giving up in the last part of the season when they were fighting for the baskets quotient. The semi-final, to all intents and purposes, is a prize for all of us.”
VENICE ON THE HORIZON Soon, for the fioridappello , there will be the semi-final – also this series with the best of two successes out of three games – with Reyer Venezia with game one on Saturday at Taliercio, game two on Wednesday 8th at the Arena and the possible race three on May 11th again in Veneto.
LA MOLISANA MAGNOLIA CAMPOBASSO 51 ALLIANZ GEAS SESTO SAN GIOVANNI 41 (14-15, 33-26; 39-33)
CAMPOBASSO: Trimboli 7 (1/3, 0/4), Morrison 13 (3/5, 1/2), Mištinová 10 (3/3, 1/4), Dedić 9 (0/4, 3/5), Kunaiyi 4 (2/5); Quiñonez 3 (0/4, 1/3), Kacerik 5 (1/2, 1/3), Giacchetti (0/1). Ne: Narvičiūtė and Trozzola. All.: Sabatelli.
SESTO SAN GIOVANNI: Conti G. (0/4 from 3), Panzera 11 (3/5, 1/8), Gwathmey 7 (3/7, 0/1), Begić 11 (5/6, 0/1) , Moore 6 (3/6, 0/1); Dotto C. 4 (0/3, 0/1), Trucco 2 (1/3, 0/4), Wadoux. Ne: Arturi and Tava. All.: Zanotti.
REFEREES: Gagliardi (Frosinone), Radaelli (Agrigento) and Ursi (Livorno). NOTES: free throws: Campobasso 10/14; Sesto San Giovanni 8/12. Rebounds: Campobasso 30 (Kunaiyi 9); Sextus St. John 42 (Gwathmey 9). Assist: Campobasso 9 (Quiñonez 3); Sesto San Giovanni 8 (Moore and Panzera 3). Score progression: 8-9 (5′), 23-20 (15′), 36-28 (25′), 41-35 (35′). Maximum advantage: Campobasso 11 (39-28); Sextus St. John 5 (8-13).
