(by Rocco Fattori Giuliano) Ecodem Alpo Villafranca moves to Udine, in a boiling PalaCarnera, and wins game 1 of this final promotion, the third in the history of the Castellano club. Coach Soave’s girls demonstrate concreteness, coldness, the right aggressiveness across the board, the desire to win and bring home a very important victory. In Friuli it ends 75-85 (27-21 in the first quarter, 14-16 in the second, 20-23 in the third and 14 -25 in the last quarter).
First quarter: Alpo opens the match with two points from Anna Turel in the first offensive action. First overtaking by Udine with a triple in transition. Fustacci responds immediately and after an offensive rebound he lights up from three points. Udine takes advantage of the presence of two centers on the field and wins second chances on the rebound. Balanced match that sees many counter-overtakings in just the first few minutes. Alpo uses up the bonus with three minutes left in the first quarter, thus burdening the girls in the starting lineup with fouls. Triple in transition by Udine which forces coach Soave to time out. Udine extends his lead to +6, the maximum advantage of the match. Many trips to the line for the home team who take advantage of the free throws to distance themselves from the Scaliger team. Small mistakes in the attacks of the Villafranca girls who are unable to mend the gap, Udine does not take advantage of them in the last possession of the period and after ten minutes the score is 27 – 21 for Apu.
Second quarter: Alpo returns to the field aggressively, finds a good shot that goes off the rim but immediately steals the ball and earns a foul in the area. Villafranca can’t shake off the six points taken in the first quarter and struggles to get closer to Udine. Apu extends further with a triple at the end of possession which pushes the Scala team to -9. Alice Nori turns in post and brings the Veronese team closer to parity. Alpo gains momentum as she interrupts multiple Udine offensive actions and earns fouls in the opposite half of the field and returns to just one possession away. Anna Turel leaves the field after a fall and a possible blow to the knee. For Udine, Alice Milani continues to create problems for the black and blue defense and reaches 12 points with just under three minutes left to play in the first half. Sofia Frustacci keeps Alpo’s energy high by keeping her team one possession away with her 10 points. The second quarter ends with a well-managed action by the Villafranca girls who return to just four points behind the Udine team, 41 – 37.
Third fourth: Villafranca returns from the long break in less than four minutes and takes control of the match thanks to a triple from Anna Turel, who returned to the field after the blow suffered in the previous quarter. Partial counter by Udine who, with a triple and a counterattack, regained a full lead. Partial score 9 – 0 for the hosts who drastically increased the defensive intensity. The Alpo girls get closer and with opportunities on the counterattack and a 1-3-1 zone defense they get back to -2. Alice Milani’s offensive frenzy continues as she reaches 20 points. Villafranca makes up for it with a triple from Martina Rossignoli to end the third period ahead 61 – 60.
Fourth quarter: Udine begins the last period by losing its center due to fouls. Alpo did not capitalize on the absence of the big man and Udine regained the lead of the match. Poisonous turnover by Alpo who wasted an opportunity to take the lead. Turel takes care of it in the following action but Alice Milani (22 points) responds and puts Udine back ahead of Villafranca. Soave’s girls accelerate and reach their maximum lead of the match, +5 with four minutes to go, 67 – 72. Milani scores 2/2 on free throws and brings Apu back to -3. Turel alone scores a 0-5 run and puts Alpo at +8 with two minutes to play. A dubious foul called on Bacchini from Udine which brings Rossignoli to the line and extends the lead by two points. +8 for Alpo with 13 seconds left to score on the counterattack at the siren and end game 1 75 – 85.
On Wednesday 29th, at 8.30 pm, game two will be played in Villafranca. And we need the public on big occasions to push the blue and whites to the end.
