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France earn Skopje title; Serbia victorious in Novi Sad; Poland win Sofia Challenger - Aug 22, 2021
Romania - Russia 47-94 Russia finished third in Group A action. They stormed past Romania to wrap up their campaign. Russia grabbed a 44-17 halftime lead and never looked back en route to the victory. Vadim Shirinkin (189-G-05) netted 17 points, while Egor Demin (200-G-06) added 15 points for Russia. David Anghel (195-SG-05) replied with 13 points for Romania. France - Lithuania 57-51 France celebrated Skopje Challenger title. They held off Lithuania in the Final. France held their opponents to just 2 points in the first period to take a 13-point lead. They held Lithuania to 6 points in the third term to take a 13-point lead at the final break. Lithuania dropped 22 points in the fourth period but came up short at the end. Alexandre Sarr (210-F/C-05) notched 20 points for the winning side. Deividas Zukauskas (05) had 9 points for Lithuania. Serbia - Turkey 82-68 Serbia outgunned Turkey to finish Novi Sad Challenger undefeated. Serbia grabbed a 40-36 halftime lead. They followed with a 23-13 run in the fourth quarter to secure the win. Ognjen Stankovic (197-F-05) scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the winners. Mitar Bosnjakovic (200-SF-06) added 12 points for the hosts. Yagiz Aksu (192-G-05) answered with 16 points for Turkey. Slovenia - Czech Republic 86-50 Slovenia coasted past Czech Republic for the fourth win in Group C. They dominated from start to finish. Slovenia registered a 38-20 halftime lead. They poured in 48 points in the second half and raced to the win. Peter Bandelj (193-SF-05) recorded 29 points for the winners. Josef Svoboda (198-SG-05) tossed in 16 points for Czech Republic. Bulgaria - Latvia 65-72 Latvia outscored Bulgaria to finish the Challenger with the lone victory. Harijs Kapmanis scored 13 points, while Toms Linis (196-G-05) netted 14 points for the Baltic team. Latvia grabbed an 8-point lead at the final break and protected the lead throughout the fourth term. Aleksandar Gavalyugov (06) answered with 18 points for Bulgaria. Germany - Poland 66-75 Poland outscored Germany to wrap up their Challenger campaign atop of Sofia Challenger. Germany recorded a 37-35 halftime lead. But Poland responded with a 40-29 second half run to snatch the win. Szymon Nowicki (200-F-05) scored 24 points and collected 11 rebounds, while Pawel Sowinski (187-G-05) added 14 points in the victory. Martin Kalu (194-PG-05) answered with 26 points for Germany. Belgium - Israel 50-98 Israel crushed Belgium to finish Group C action at 2-3 record. Israel used a 28-11 run in the second frame to take a 47-25 halftime lead. They held Belgium to just 25 points in the second half and rallied to the win. Ben Saraf (195-G-06) provided 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists for Israel. Lukijan Zecevic (195-F/G-05) tossed in 17 points for Belgium. Poland and Hungary Win U16 European Challengers in Sofia - Aug 22, 2021
Sofia, Bulgaria - The last day of the U16 FIBA European Challengers in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia was opened by the teams of Slovakia and Switzerland. Slovakia controlled the game, having the lead throughout the whole game in the 77-66 win. Both Lubomir Urban and Maros Simko scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the win. For Switzerland, Matteo Da Silva (2006), a 5-9 guard scored a game-high 26 points in a losing effort, while his teammate Liban Nuux added 14 points, seven boards, four assists and seven steals, but also committed seven turnovers. In a hard-fought game for third place of the U16 FIBA European Challenger 19-25 (Groups D-E) that was accompanied by several technical and unsportsmanlike fouls (head coach of Ukraine was ejected in the second quarter) Portugal prevailed over Ukraine - 62-55. The committed turnovers seemed to be the deciding metric in this game. Ukraine turned the ball over 25 times, against Portugal's 11. Portugal exploited those mistakes, with a 22-11 advantage on points from turnovers. Ruben Prey had another impressive performance, finishing with 19 points, 17 rebounds and eight blocked shots, intimidating his opponents within the paint. His teammates Tiago Filipe (2005), a 6-7 forward and Nathan Noronha helped by scoring 12 and 11, respectively. For Ukraine, Nazarii Kulishenko put up a double-double of 14 points and 18 rebounds but shot only 6-of-18 from the field. Poland upset an athletic Germany 75-66 to clinch the title at the event and secure U17 World Cup spot next year. Once again, the committed turnovers were the important stat for the win. Germany committed 31 turnovers, against Poland's 15. The Polish players' tenacity on defense forced Germans to lose the ball 14 times, against Poland's eight. Szymon Nowicki led the winners in scoring with 24 points and 11 rebounds, connecting on 4-of-10 from long range. His teammate Pawel Sowinski added 14 points, going 5-of-12 from the field. Martin Kalu (194-PG-05) scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed eight boards for Germany, but shot only 2-of-8 from deep. Joshua Bonga had an inefficient night from a playmaking standpoint, finishing with 17 points, one assist and nine turnovers. Latvia won the battle of the winless teams of the event, topping Bulgaria - 72-65. Bulgaria stayed close, even leading for close to a total of 13 minutes throughout the game. As against Poland, the Bulgarians didn't have any size disadvantage which let them to be more active on the boards and play more effectively around the rim. The Latvians were more aggressive on the defensive end of the floor, coming up with ten more steals - 12-2, while also forcing Bulgaria into commit more turnovers - 18 against 11. Toms Linis (2005), a 6-5 swingman led Latvia in scoring with 14 points, shooting 3-of-9 from long range. Juris Vitols had a solid all-around game, finishing with 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals, while his teammate Harijs Kaupmanis (2005), a 6-6 forward added 13 points, four boards, three assists, two steals and a block, being aggressive on defense and efficient on offense, converting on 3-of-7 from deep. For Bulgaria, Aleksandar Gavalyugov scored a game-high 18 points, adding four rebounds and five assists to his stat sheet. His teammate Stefan Mihaylov recorded 12 points, shooting 2-of-6 from long distance, and grabbed six boards. In a down-to-the-wire game Hungary sealed the first place at the U16 FIBA European Challenger 19-25 (Groups D-E), winning against Georgia - 75-72. Balint Szoke had another strong showing, finishing with a game-high 20 points, six rebounds and six dimes, shooting 4-of-8 from deep. For Georgia, Luka Lomtadze, a 2005-frontcourt player demonstrated a lot of effort on the glass, recording 16 points and nine rebounds. The leading scorer of Georgia throughout the event, Luka Alavidze had a rare off-night that came at the worst time possible. Alavidze recorded five points, shooting 1-of-4 from the field, adding two assists and committing six turnovers. Martin Kalu (194-PG-05) from Germany was named the most valuable player of the U16 FIBA European Challenger, averaging 27.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game in close to 29 minutes of action. The most valuable player of the U16 FIBA European Challenger 19-25 (Groups D-E) was Luka Alavidze from Georgia, averaging 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists. This article was written by Simeon Marinov, Director of European Scouting for NetScouts Basketball. U16 European Challengers: Day 4 from Sofia - Aug 21, 2021
Sofia, Bulgaria - Day 4 at the U16 FIBA European Challengers started with a down-to-the-wire game between Switzerland and Cyprus, which was won by Switzerland - 61-60. Luka Stankovic (2006), a 6-foot-4 forward led the winners in scoring with 13 points, hitting 2-of-8 from long range, showing soft touch on his shot and nice potential as a pick-and-pop stretch 4. His teammate Andrin Njock (2006), an undersized frontcourt player, put great effort on both ends, playing bigger than his actual size, finishing with 11 points, nine boards, two steals and two blocked shots. For Cyprus, Panagiotis Koutouris, a 2006-born forward led the team in scoring with 14 points and six boards, shooting 6-of-10 from the field, while his teammate Stefanos Tigkas had 12 points, but shot 1-of-7 from long range. In the next game, played at Triaditsa Sports Hall, Germany prevailed over Croatia - 81-71. The Croatians was overwhelmed by the great athleticism of the German players in the first half, losing by 16 points (47-31). The Germans ran hard on both ends, scoring more points from fast breaks than their opponent - 28-20. Germany also had an advantage in the points scored from second chances - 24-13. Martin Kalu led the winners in scoring with a game-high 26 points, shooting 7-of-17 from the field, including 4-of-7 from long range. Joshua Bonga had a strong showing with 23 points, eight rebounds and three assists, showing his good scoring abilities thanks to his length and shifty handles. Declan Duru (2007), a 6-foot-8 athletic forward and the youngest player at the event, who had a solid double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds, stole the show with a two-foot dunk on Matej Akrap. In a low-scoring contest between Portugal and Hungary, the Hungarians prevailed in overtime to win - 63-54. Balint Szoke (200-F-05) had a nice all-around performance, finishing with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for the winners. For Portugal, Ruben Pred put up a monstrous double-double of 21 points and 23 rebounds, adding also four steals and three blocked shots. Poland won a close game against the hosts from Bulgaria - 80-76. Poland controlled the game, especially in the first half (50-37), but let Bulgaria to stay close and make a comeback in the last quarter, fueled primarily by Stefan Mihaylov's solid shooting. finishing with a game-high 25 points (4-of-7 on threes). Poland was very aggressive on the defensive end, double-teaming and running through passing lanes, finishing with 15 steals against only six for Bulgaria. The Polish players had also an advantage in scoring more points from turnovers - 18-6, while being more efficient off second chance points too - 15-2. Pawel Sowinski and Szymon Nowicki both led the winners in scoring with 17 points, adding eight and ten rebounds, respectively. Teammate Marcin Kosiorowski scored 16 points, hitting 4-of-10 from outside. Beside Mihaylov's good shooting night, Stanislav Hinkov once again displayed his solid shooting mechanics, finishing with 18 points and ten rebounds, hitting 3-of-6 from long range. Aleksander Gavalyugov recorded a double-double of 11 points and 12 assists, but also went scoreless from deep (0-of-10). In the last game for the day Georgia ran past Ukraine - 82-62. The Georgians seemed to have a better team chemistry and play with more energy, putting more effort and competitiveness on both ways, making up for their size disadvantage. Luka Alavidze once again was the leader for Georgia, having a solid all-around game - 21 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and an impressive seven steals. His teammate Tengo Gogishvili, a 2005-born guard added 19 points, five boards and three steals. For Ukraine, Mykyta Yalovenko (2005), a 6-foot-7 frontcourt player and Nikita Korotchenko (2005), a 6-foot-9 forward, both scored 11 points, adding nine and two boards, respectively. The last day of the tournament will be opened by the teams of Slovakia and Switzerland at St. George School Gym. Later in Triaditsa Sports Hall Poland will face the other undefeated team at the event, Germany playing for first place, while Portugal will compete again Ukraine for third place in the other group. After that the hosts from Bulgaria will play against Latvia, deciding which team will not finish winless the event, while at the other gym Georgia and Hungary will play for first place in their group. This article was written by Simeon Marinov, Director of European Scouting for NetScouts Basketball. U16 European Challengers: Day 3 from Sofia - Aug 19, 2021
Sofia, Bulgaria - Ukraine dominated against Switzerland in the first game of the program for Day 3 at the U16 European Challengers in Sofia. Ukraine had a clear size advantage over its opponent, as the average height of the Ukrainians is 6-6, while that of Swiss players is only 6-2. Ukraine controlled the boards and scored 18 points more from second chance points than its opponent. Artem Danych (2005), a 6-foot-1 guard led the winners in scoring with 21 points, hitting 3-of-8 from long range, while Nazarii Kulishenko (2005), a 6-foot-10 forward added 18 points, 13 boards and four assists for the win. For Switzerland, Liban Nuux recorded 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. In the next game from the program, Poland made a huge comeback in the second half to beat Latvia 79-69. They trailed by 11 at the half, but had a 26-13 edge in the third quarter and kept the momentum in the last ten minutes of the game. Poland scored 22 more points off fast breaks than Latvia (33-11). The easy points on fast breaks for Poland came in thanks to team's toughness, aggressiveness and resilience on defense, forcing Latvia to commit 15 turnovers more (29-14) and having 11 steals more than Latvia (18-7). Szymon Nowicki had another strong performance at the event, leading his team in scoring with 17 points, shooting 7-of-16, adding nine rebounds. For Poland, Juris Vitols (2005), a 6-foot-2 point guard stepped up, finishing with 13 points, 15 boards and eight assists. In the third game of the program, Cyprus upset Slovakia - 65-61, despite trailing by 13 points after 20 minutes of play. Christoforos Malathoura (2005), a classic 6-9 center, led the winners in scoring with 20 points and seven boards, shooting 9-of-16. Stefanos Tigkas recorded another solid showing, finishing with 12 points and seven rebounds, hitting some deciding free-throw shots in clutch time. For Slovakia Lubomir Urban (2005), a 6-foot-3 guard had 19 points and six boards, shooting 5-of-11 from long distance, while his teammate Maros Simko (2005), a 6-foot-7 forward recorded 11 points and ten rebounds. In the next game of the schedule Croatia faced Bulgaria in a packed gym. The Croatians patiently controlled the game from its beginning, building up their lead methodically to eventually win 78-63. They had a serious advantage on the boards, grabbing 10 offensive rebounds more than Bulgaria (17-7), turning them into 12 second chance points more than its opponent. For third straight game David Pavin (175-SG-05) was the leading scorer for Croatia, this time with 21 points, shooting 8-of-16 from the field, adding five rebounds and eight assists. His teammates Roko Lukic (2005) and Luka Francesevic (2005) both helped with 11 points for the win. Francesevic organized more of the Croatian offensive plays, while Lukic, a tall and athletic swingman, put a lot of effort both ways, finishing with a couple of blocked shots and steals. For Bulgaria, Aleksandar Gavalyugov recorded 15 points and seven boards, shooting 6-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-9 from deep, while Stanislav Hinkov, a 2006-born shooting guard scored 14 points, going 2-of-5 from long range, being also active on the glass, securing six rebounds. In a low-scoring game Georgia managed to upset Hungary 61-51. Luka Alavidze had a game-high 24 points, shooting 9-of-18 from the field and added seven rebounds and four assists for the win. Daniel Antalics, a 6-foot-7 frontcourt player scored 14 points and grabbed six boards in a losing effort. On Thursday there will be no games as the teams will rest and the event will resume on Friday, starting with a game between Switzerland and Cyprus. Then at Triaditsa Sports Hall, Croatia will face Germany in a direct contest for the front place in that group, while at Saint George School Gym Portugal and Hungary will open the semi-finals. Meanwhile at the other gym Poland will face the hosts from Bulgaria. Day 4 will be closed by the second semi-finals game between the teams of Georgia and Ukraine. This article was written by Simeon Marinov, Director of European Scouting for NetScouts Basketball. U16 European Challengers: Day 2 from Sofia - Aug 18, 2021
Sofia, Bulgaria - Day 2 of the U16 FIBA European Challengers here in Sofia was opened by the teams of Switzerland and Portugal. Portugal dominated from the start to win it - 65-47. Ruben Prey had another strong showing at the event, this time leading his team with 14 points and an impressive 16 rebounds. He shot 7-of-15 from the field and added three blocks, demonstrating his great touch around the rim and shot blocking instincts. Salvador Victo (2005), a 6-foot-1 point guard added 12 points and six boards, while his teammate Nathan Noronha helped with nine points (3-of-5 from deep), three assists and four steals. The Swiss 6-4 guard Liban Nuux (2006) scored eight points, shooting 4-of-11 from the field in a losing effort. In the first game for the day played at Triaditsa Sports Hall, Croatia prevailed over Latvia - 69-58. The Croatians performed very well in the second quarter (20-9), getting a comfortable 45-31 advantage after the first half. The Latvians had another bad shooting night from outside, hitting only 5-of-27 from that range. In addition, they went 11-of-22 from the charity line, while the Croatians were more aggressive, going to the free-throw line more times, making 20-of-37. David Pavin was once again the top scorer for his team, recording 24 points and six rebounds, shooting 8-of-18 from the field, including 2-of-6 from deep. His teammate Vito Perkovic, a 2006-born big, helped Croatia by adding nine points and grabbing 14 rebounds. For Latvia, Roberts Blums scored 15 points, shooting 2-of-3 from outside, while his teammate Toms Linis, a 6-5 guard added nine points, shooting 3-of-8 from long range. Georgia built up an early advantage in the first quarter to eventually win 86-76 against Cyprus in the next game on the schedule. Tengo Gogishvili, a 2005-born guard led the winners in scoring with 27 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 8-of-15 from the field and 11-of-14 from the charity stripe. His teammate Luka Alavidze, a 2005-born guard added 18 points and seven assists. Stefanos Tigkas (2005), a 6-1 guard, scored a game-high 29 points and also grabbed 10 boards in a losing effort, while shooting 11-of-26 from the field. His teammate Michail Christofides added 17 points, shooting 6-of-16 from the field. In the most anticipated game of the day, in a packed Triaditsa sports hall, Germany controlled the game against Bulgaria to get an 88-65 win. The Germans dominated the glass, securing 61 boards, 20 of which offensive against only 37 (11 on offense) for Bulgaria. Germany turned those more rebounds into more second chance points - 18 against 6. Both teams hit 13 3-pointers, while Bulgaria took a bit more attempts than Germany - 34-30, respectively. Martin Kalu (194-PG-05) had a terrific shooting night, scoring a game-high 36 points, shooting the lights out from deep (8-of-10). Kalu demonstrated once again his great, cold-blooded scoring abilities against a packed home team arena. Joshua Bonga finished just one assist shy of a triple-double, having 19 points, 10 boards and nine assists, orchestrating the German attack, but also showing scoring abilities at all three levels. For Bulgaria, Aleksandar Gavalyugov (2006), a 6-foot-1 shifty guard with great handles and high basketball IQ scored 19 points, shooting 5-of-14 from deep. His teammate Stefan Mihaylov, 6-foot-7 lefty forward added 16 points, being 7-of-17 from the field and also grabbed five boards. In the last game from the schedule Hungary ran past Slovakia 86-63. Bulcsu Major (2005), a 6-foot-5 forward led the winners in scoring with 21 points, recording all of his points from long range, being 7-of-13 from there. Balint Szoke (2005), a 6-foot-7 forward added 13 points and nine assists for the win. Robert Hudec was once again the top scorer for Slovakia, finishing with 21 points, hitting 4-of-9 from deep, while his teammate Lubomir Urban (2005), a 6-foot-3 guard added 13 points. The games from Day 3 will be started with a deciding game for the second place in Group D between the teams of Switzerland and Ukraine. At Triaditsa Sports Hall, Latvia will play against Poland, looking to get its first win at the event, while the Polish players will try to remain undefeated. Meanwhile at St. George School Gym, Cyprus will face Georgia. Later Bulgaria will compete against Croatia at Triaditsa Sports Hall, while at the other gym Slovakia and Hungary will close Day 3 program. This article was written by Simeon Marinov, Director of European Scouting for NetScouts Basketball. U16 European Challengers: Day 1 from Sofia - Aug 17, 2021
Sofia, Bulgaria - We checked into the capital of Bulgaria - Sofia for the U16 FIBA European Challengers which will be held from Monday until Saturday this week. Two venues in the city will host three groups. The first group is consisted of Germany, Croatia, Latvia, Poland and Bulgaria. They will play in a round-robin format. Originally Spain was the sixth team in the group, but due to complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic the team withdraw from the event. The other seven teams Ukraine, Switzerland, Portugal, Georgia, Slovakia, Hungary and Cyprus are set across two groups - one of three and one of four - which will be followed by the semi-finals and classification games. The program was opened by a game played at the St. George School Gym between the teams of Hungary and Cyprus. Hungary won 63-39, pulling away in the second and third quarter, limiting its opponent to single-digits in those two quarters - a total of seven points. Patrick Hogye (2005), a 6-foot-5 shooting guard led the winners in scoring with 13 points, shooting 5-of-9 from the field. Petros Tsouloupas (2005), a 6-1 guard scored eight points for Cyprus in a losing effort. The first game from the schedule in the other sports hall - Triaditsa, offered us a low-scoring competition between Germany and Latvia, which the Germans won 59-45 thanks to a strong showing in the fourth quarter (20-6). Both teams didn't shoot the ball well from long range - Latvia hit only 6-of-35 shots from that distance, while Germany shot a significantly smaller number of 3-pointers - 17 and made only two of them. Martin Kalu (194-PG-05) (2005), a 6-foot-5 athletic guard was the leading scorer for Germany with a game-high 20 points, shooting 8-of-15 from the field. Kalu, a three-level scorer demonstrated his hops with two flashy dunks. His teammate Joshua Bonga (2005), a 6-3 point guard and younger brother of NBA player Isaac Bonga, was very active on both ends of the floor, finishing with nine points, eight rebounds and three assists, despite his bad shooting night - 3-of-12 from the field. For Latvia 6-foot-2 guard Roberts Blums (2005) scored 17 points, shooting 5-of-11 from deep. In the second game for the day played at St. George School gym, Portugal dominated Ukraine - 75-54. Portugal was led by 2006-born guard Nathan Noronha and 6-foot-9 Ruben Prey (2005) who scored 17 and 14, respectively. The lengthy and very mobile big guy Prey added an impressive 17 rebounds and three assists. For Ukraine Illia Lishchyna recorded 12 points and grabbed seven boards in a losing effort. Poland opened its campaign in Sofia with an important win against Croatia - 87-71. Despite being up in 37 minutes of the game, the win didn't come as easy as the result suggests, as Poland led only by two after three quarters of play. However, Poland won the fourth quarter by a 25-11 margin to get the victory. The committed turnovers seemed to be the deciding metric in this game. Croatia turned the ball over 24 times, against Poland's 11.. Poland exploited those mistakes, with a 25-8 advantage on points from turnovers. Polish guard Pavel Sowinski (2005) and small forward Jan Nowicki (2005) led the winners in scoring both with 15 points, adding six and four boards, respectively. Their teammate Szymon Nowicki (2005), a 6-foot-7 forward was very active on both ends of the court, providing length and competitiveness. Nowicki finished with 12 points and seven boards. Croatian guard David Pavin (2005) had a game-high 28 points, shooting 11-of-18 from the field, including 6-of-8 on threes. Pavin added seven boards, four assists, but also five turnovers, showing he might not be at his best being the playmaker of this team. His teammate Zvonimir Kujundzic (2005) posted 19 points and nine rebounds. In the final game of the program Slovakia came back to win a nail-biter against Georgia - 77-76. Robert Hudec (2005), a 6-3 shooting guard, scored a game-high 19 points, shooting 8-of-14 from the field to help Slovakia win. Luka Lomtadze (2005), a 6-5 forward, led Georgia in scoring, finishing with 18 points and eight boards, on 8-of-12 shooting. In tomorrow's games Switzerland will play its game against Portugal. At Triaditsa Sports Hall, Croatia and Latvia will face each other, looking to get their first win at the tournament, while later Cyprus and Georgia will compete at St. George School Gym to see which team will get its first victory. In the final game for the day at Triaditsa Sports Hall, Bulgaria will open its performance competing against Germany, while at St. George School Gym we will watch a battle of two unbeaten teams - Slovakia and Hungary. This article was written by Simeon Marinov, Director of European Scouting for NetScouts Basketball. |
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