Novi Sad beat Hemofarm -the two best teams of the regular season- in the final (63-68) to become the new U-18 Champion in Serbia, even the Final Eight was held in Vrsac, Hemofarm "house". The most important players of the squad shined in a great level, leading the team to the big performance. Forward Vukasin Petkovic ('92) nailed 14 points (6/9 FG), with 8 rebounds and 2 assists, while guard Bogic Vujosevic ('92) -at the pic- finished also with 14 (6/14 FG), with 9 rebounds and 7 assists winning MVP honors in the game. 2.08 center Bozo Dumic ('92) also made a good job: 13 points (5/7 twos), 3 rebounds and 1 block. For Hemofarm Petar Lambic ('92) -played the Jordan Brand Classic in 2008- was the best scorer with 18 points (2/4 behind the arc) and 3 rebounds, while guard Luka Igrutinovic ('92) poured 12 (3/18 FG!!) with 5 rebounds and youngster Luka Mitrovic ('93) added 11 and 6 boards.
To arrive to the final Novi Sad needed to beat Mladost (94-80) in quarterfinals and FMP at semifinals (73-58). In their opener forward Strahinja Petkovic ('92) led the win with 17 points (6/11 FG), 5 rebounds and 3 assists. For Mladost the job of the MVP of the league, Marko Gujanicic ('92), wasn't enough. The prospect poured 19 points, with 5 rebounds and 3 steals. In semifinals the mission was tougher, but they finally beat FMP (73-58) with Vujosevic leading the victory: 14 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds. The youngsters of Zeleznik -champions last season- couldn't reach the final even Nenad Miljenovic ('93): 21 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Nemanja Bezbradica ('93) also shined for losers: 14 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Hemofarm arrived to the big game after beating Knjazevac (100-70) in quarterfinals and Zitko Basket (89-86) in semifinals. In their first battle they added an easy win with Mitrovic making a 28 valoration (19 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals). Lazar Spasic ('92) shined for losers with 19 points and 3/5 threes. Against Zitko, Igrutinovic and Lambic were "the men". Igrutinovic made a 36 valoration (19 points, 11 assists and 15 fouls drawn) and Lambic a 34 (28 points, 9 rebounds and 8 fouls drawn). For Zitko Bogdan Bogdanovic ('92) wasn't enough even his crazy game: 41 points with 6/11 threes and 7 rebounds. His teammate Luka Pajkovic ('92) poured 24 with 9/17 FG.
In the other two games of quarterfinals Zitko beat Partizan (63-57) and FMP did the same with Beovuk (95-69). Bogdanovic, as usual, shined leading Zitko (28 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals), while guard Nemanja Vucicevic ('92) was the best of Partizan: 20 with 5/8 behind the arc. In the other game youngster Vasilije Micic ('94) finished as the MVP of FMP (14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals). For losers shined Filip Lukovic ('92) with 16 in 22 minutes.
Finally, in the game for the final third position, Zitko beat FMP (76-82). The job of Nikola Siladi ('92) -MVP of last NIJT at Belgrade- wasn't enough for Zeleznik squad, nailing 16 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Who shined for Zitko? Bogdanovic again, of course. The prospect, who was named MVP of the Final Eight, finished with a 40 valoration (30 points with 5/8 threes and 10 rebounds). His teammate Pajkovic also played in a good level: 26 with 11 fouls drawn.
Photo: FIBA Europe / Ciamillo - Castoria
