Fran Suárez ('96) and Adrià Martínez ('96) are some of the big names of this edition in the U-14 BAM Tournament, held in Slovenj Gradec (Slovenia). With Eurohopes staff on live following the competition the forward from Canary Islands (he plays with Magec Tias) and the guard of FC Barcelona are leading Spain to a great performance, still unbeaten with a 4-0 record. Suárez shined again yesterday with 15 points (6/8 FG) and 1 rebound in the win over Slovenia Blue (79-62). Beside him Martínez showed again that he is the other main factor of squad coached by Gabriel Álvaro: 18 points (8/13 FG), 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Today spaniards will face Croatia in the final. Let's check what we saw yesterday.
Only one game in the morning. Croatia crashed Estonia (86-55) but baltic team fought during all 40 minutes. Croatian coach, with stronger players, made a lot of rotations to prepare today's final against Spain. Luka Bozic ('96), who usually doesn't play many minutes, nailed 11 points, with 4 assists and 2 steals. But the one who dominated the paint was lefty Vinko Glavan ('96). Unstoppable for estonians, he ended the contest with great stats: 23 points (9/18 FG), 17 boards and 2 blocks. 2.02 forward Marko Arapovic ('96) also in a good level with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 1 block, even 6 turnovers. At estonian side their stronger player, Patrik Peremees ('96), the best with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block. Great legs to penetrate, finishing with both hands. Forward Robin Juriens ('96), who also plays as PG, poured 12 points, pulling down 3 boards and having 2 steals, while Kristofer Kuruits ('96) added 9 with 2 rebounds and 1 steal. The bad news for croatians was the injury of Arian Dosen ('96).
After lunch we went back to the gym. Tied game between FYROM and Slovenia Green, with final victory for hosts (73-61). Macedonians started very intensive, but the turnovers in the second quarter came like bad news for them. Eventhough, the inside power of FYROM, with Martin Salev ('96) and Davor Spasovski ('96), showed their credentials against outside slovenian talent, with Sandi Grubelic ('96), Tine Vravnic ('96) and Aljaz Slutej ('96). But no way. Slovenians won. Youngster macedonian Nenad Dimitrijevic ('98) didn't have problems to shoot: 10 points with 3/6 threes and 1 steal in 29 minutes (but 7 turnovers). Who finished as the best scorers at winner side: Grubelic nailed 18 points (9/19 FG) with 4 steals, Slutej added 17 with 4/6 from downtown and 5 boards, and finally Vravnic had 10, pulling down 6 boards and making 4 steals. The great job of Pavel Josifovski ('96), not enough: 21 points (9/13 FG), 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Beside him also shined Davor Spasvovski ('96) with 17 (6/12 twos) and 7 rebounds. Salev added 8 points and 10 rebounds.
In the last game of the journey Spain added its fourth win in four games, beating Slovenia Blue (79-62). These two teams are the two with most interesting players to follow their progression (physically and also talent). Contest started with very skinny players, showing their wingspan and talent. Ziga Zonkarevic ('96), Luka Vadnov ('96) and Nejc Zupan ('96) sent us great sensations, even this last one didn't play very well against spaniards. At the other group, Adrià Martínez ('96), Carlos Martínez ('96) and Fran Suárez ('96) made good things again, of course. Game started tied, but in the second period Spain played better, with Adriá Martínez running and Carlos Martínez hurting at three points line. But the game was not over, and after half time Zonkarevic and Vadnov made slovenians react. But hosts couldn't win. Adriá Martínez ('96) ended with 18 (8/13 FG) and 7 boards and Fran Suárez ('96) added 15 (6/8 FG) with 1 board. Sergi Costa ('96) nailed 5 points, dishing 6 assists and grabbing 1 rebound. For slovenians Tilen Hojc ('96) scored 11 with 7 rebounds and 3 steals and Zonkarevic added also 11 with 4/7 FG and 3 boards. Vadnov had 9 points with 4/7 FG and 3 steals.
Today, the big final between Spain, with Fran Suárez and Adrià Martínez, and Croatia, with Marko Arapovic and Vinko Glavan.
Standings: Spain (4-0), Croatia (4-0), Slovenia Blue (2-2), Slovenia Green (2-2), FYROM (0-4) and Estonia (0-4).
Photo: Eurohopes
