By Juan Cobos
We attended yesterday the first two games of the Madrid last-four round and the event was worthy. The double-header included a Real Madrid-Torrejón game first, and an Estudiantes-Fuenlabrada game to close the evening. And there was a big surprise when Torrejón pulled the upset and beat Real Madrid. Let’s go with the summaries of the games.
Real Madrid 71 – Torrejón 73. Real Madrid started leading the game behind 6’8’’ SF Dani Díez´s (’93) quick 7 points but Torrejón showed they have a consistent starting five, dominating the boards and taking advantage of the turnover show the game was during the first minutes. 5’11’’ PG Sergio Herranz (’93) started what was going to be a great night for him with 9 points during the first 10 minutes to finish the quarter with the score tied at 16. With the rotations, Real Madrid showed their deepness taking control of the game in the second quarter behind 6’6’’ SF Jorge Sánchez (’94), who scored 10 points before halftime, including two 3 pointers, and with the inside presence of 6’9’’ C Guillermo Hernangómez (’94). Even though he was a bit erratic finishing under the rim, Hernangómez was one of the keys for Real Madrid to take a 14 point lead. With 6’11’’ C Cheickh Diagne (‘94) missing his frontcourt partner 6’9’’ PF/C Gaston Diedhou (’93) during most of the second quarter, the rebounding battle wasn’t that Torrejón-sided anymore. Herranz was benched for a few minutes and Torrejón felt lost without its floor general. When he came back to the court, the game looked over, with Real Madrid looking intense, enjoying a nice lead, and with Herranz having trouble with the defense of 6’8’’ Díez! Somehow, Torrejón did not give up and managed to go to the locker room only down by 9.
After the break, Dani Díez started hot again, making a couple of three pointers, but Herranz was not going to let an opportunity to beat Real Madrid go easily. Mostly playing the pick and roll with Diagne and Diedhou, to create himself room to attack the basket, he was regularly going to the charity stripe finishing the third quarter with 23 points and Real Madrid leading by 10 (59-49). With Herranz and Diedhou resting, it was 6’4’’ SG David Villacañas (’93) who closed the score to 5 points with seven minutes left (61-56). It was then when Real Madrid’s rotations stopped. They had to win the game. 6’2’’ PG Jorge Sanz (’93), who did a few over-a-junior-league-level plays started to appear, and 6’7’’ PF/C Julen Olaizola (’93) and Hernangómez where dominating the boards, giving Real Madrid second chances. But even when the game was close again to be over, Torrejón managed to survive. With a seven-point lead and two minutes to go, Villacañas scored three more points, and after a turnover by Hernangómez Herranz scored a deep 3 pointer to cut the lead to 1 with less than 1:30 remaining. After a few misses by Real Madrid, Villacañas scored another three, and it was Torrejón leading by two with 30 seconds to go. This is when in college basketball seniors must appear, and Jorge Sanz took charge of it. He drove to the hoop and was fouled. The basket counted. But he missed the free throw and in a weird ending, 6’5’’ SF Carlos Castro (’93) got the ball with one second left and hit a four-meter jumper at the buzzer to knock down Real Madrid.
Herranz with 32 points, Diagne with 20 boards and Villacañas with 11 points in the last quarter, keys for Torrejón. For Real Madrid, Díez and Hernangómez were their best players, confirming again why they have enjoyed starting roles with the Spanish youth teams.
Estudiantes 56 – Fuenlabrada 77. Starting 6’7’’ SF Javier Medori (’93) and 6’7’’ SF Edgar Vicedo (’94) at the wings, Estudiantes took a first lead 12-7 with Medori, 6 points then, using his body to attack the rim and to take his defender to the low post. We quickly saw Medori was the only physically ready player in Estudiantes to compete against Fuenlabrada, and the score soon changed. 6’1’’ PG Pablo Arce (’93) and 6’7’’ PF Arturo Gómez (’93) hit a couple of threes, and 6’4’’ SG Santiago Villena (’94), 6’1’’ C Dylan Johns (’93) and 6’4’’ SG Jonah Callenbach (’93) -at the pic- started to feel confident. Medori found himself in the bench and Fuenlabrada took the lead 14-18 with 3 minutes to go in the first quarter. Estudiantes played then 6’9’’C Michel Dimanche (’93), who actually gave them a few good minutes, being their best defender for Johns, and grabbing a few rebounds. With his presence in the paint and a couple of jump shots by 6’8’’ Croatian SF Filip Cvjeticanin, the score at the end of the 1st quarter was 23-20 Fuenlabrada up. In the second quarter, Fuenlabrada looked terrific. Moving the ball fast and well, playing an intense press, the score went to 37-24 with Villena, 8 points, and Callenbach, 11 points as their top scorers. Callenbach was actually attacking the rim every possession, a-la Nikos Pappas. Estudiantes guards, younger and less mature physically, struggled for several minutes with the press. But Estudiantes did not get scared, faced the trouble, and with 6’8’’ C Diego Pérez (’93) as their emotional leader, they cut the lead to 3 after Vicedo hit a 3 (37-34). But Callenbach answered back with a 3 pointer and a 2+1 and the second quarter finished with a 43-34 lead by Fuenlabrada.
The second half started with Estudiantes striking back, and after a jumper and a dunk by Cvjeticanin it was a 5-point game. It was the closest we were to a tight score. Gómez hit a 3, Johns felt comfortable again without Dimanche (benched during the whole second half) and Callenbach kept running his show. Villena scored a three and extended the lead to 19 (59-40) with 12 minutes left, and the game was over. Since then, Estudiantes tried unsuccessfully to cut the margin, while Fuenlabrada kept playing really good basketball and made their noisy fans proud.
Callenbach finished with 26 points and was the best player on court. Villena and Johns were really good partners. For a young Estudiantes team, their most experienced guy Javier Medori showed why he has been playing all year long with the EBA team. Filip Cvjeticanin scored 12 points and his combination of mobility, height, length and shooting skills keep him as an intriguing prospect.
Today Real Madrid and Estudiantes will play each other and the loser will be close to say goodbye to the Spanish Nationals.
Photo: fbm.es
