The PalaTerme in Montecatini is the stage for Game 1 between Montecatini and Fabriano, the very same building where 7 years ago Ristopro celebrated their promotion to Serie B after the victory against Battipaglia in the play-off in Tuscany. 4 from group A against 5 from group B, two teams with a high technical level and well trained, ready to put on a show in the “hottest” period of the season. Unfortunately for the card makers, the match starts in the worst possible way: on the first penetration, number 30 Negri ends up on the ground after a hard blow to the stomach (involuntary) following a clash with his marker. The card makers, however, did not let themselves be influenced and, led by their captain Stanic, took the lead after 10 minutes of play. 14-17 at the end of the first half. In the second period the roles are reversed, in fact it is the hosts who take over the reins of the match thanks to a 9-0 run favored by Mazzantini and Cognati. Stanic scores from long range, Giombini crushes it with a tap-in and the match is back in balance; it is precisely the basket from number 45 that closes the first half of the game: 31-28 at halftime.
Gema returns to the parquet with the right attitude and takes advantage of some guest inattention to immediately build a good margin with Passoni and Mazzantini (39-30 in the 22nd minute). Coach Niccolai’s boys are short of ideas and take refuge in Verri: the two consecutive triples from the number 0 are not enough to make up for the rossoblu wave, which in an amen they return to +11. Centanni’s basket makes the deficit slightly less bitter, 55-46 after 30′. Despite the low shooting percentages, Janus has no intention of throwing away Game 1 and starts the last half well: 4 points from Giombini, 2 from Verri and the guests are unexpectedly -3. Precisely in the following action the inertia of the match changes, the two coaches whistled against the card makers sanctioning the definitive collapse; Ristopro loses clarity, Montecatini takes advantage of it and spreads, securing the first match of the series. 68-54 marks the scoreboard, reset and head straight to Monday for game 2.
Gema Montecatini – Ristopro Fabriano 68-54 (14-17, 17-11, 24-18, 13-8)
Gema Montecatini: Saverio Mazzantini 13 (2/4, 2/4), Nicola Savoldelli 11 (3/5, 1/4), Federico Pirani 11 (4/6, 0/0), Lorenzo Passoni 8 (1/4, 1/4), Marco Di Pizzo 8 (4/6, 0/0), Matteo Corgnati 8 (1/1, 2/4), Nicola Mastrangelo 7 (1/4, 1/3), Kirill Korsunov 2 (0 /2, 0/3), Simone Angelucci 0 (0/3, 0/2), Lorenzo Dell’anna 0 (0/0, 0/0), Alessio Benedetti 0 (0/0, 0/0), Cristian george Soare 0 (0/0, 0/0) Free throws: 15 / 20 – Rebounds: 38 13 + 25 (Marco Di pizzo 7) – Assists: 13 (Nicola Mastrangelo 4)
Ristopro Fabriano: Nicolas Manuel Stanic 14 (4/6, 1/6), Alberto Bedin 11 (5/8, 0/0), Patrizio Verri 8 (1/2, 2/5), Yannick Giombini 8 (4/5 , 0/1), Simone Centanni 7 (2/4, 1/9), Francesco Gnecchi 4 (1/1, 0/1), Vlatko Granic 2 (1/3, 0/0), Matteo Negri 0 (0 /2, 0/3), Paolo Bandini 0 (0/0, 0/0), Samuel florent Nkot nkot 0 (0/0, 0/0), Samuele Romagnoli 0 (0/0, 0/0), Alex Carsetti 0 (0/0, 0/0) Free throws: 6 / 14 – Rebounds: 33 13 + 20 (Alberto Bedin, Yannick Giombini 9) – Assists: 11 (Nicolas Manuel Stanic, Simone Centanni 3)
