The quarterfinals of the U-18 Spanish Final Round are already set after yesterday's great individual performances. These eight prospects led their teams to the top8: Dani Diez ('93, Real Madrid) -at the pic-, czech Samuel Faifr ('93, Unicaja), Javier Hernández ('93, Granada), Lluís Costa ('93, Barcelona), portuguese Jonah Callenbach ('93, Fuenlabrada), Roberto Pérez ('93, CAI), Mamadou Diop ('93, Baskonia) and Guillem Vives ('93, Joventut). The match-ups will be Unicaja - Real Madrid, FC Barcelona - Nostracon Granada, Fuenlabrada - CAI Zaragoza and Fundación Baskonia - DKV Joventut. Let's check what happened yesterday in the eight battles.
Unicaja 82 Coruña 36: Too easy again for Malaga. 115 to 1 in valoration. Czech Samuel Faifr ('93), with 19 points (3/5 threes) and 6 boards, and Álex Abrines ('93), 19 points and 7 steals in 19', the best at winners side.
Real Madrid 80 Valencia 61: Madrid made it with an O.T. win and Dani Diez ('93) becoming the star after scoring 13 points in the extra time. The forward collected a 38 valoration behind 29 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals. Larry Abia ('93), the best at the losing effort: 15pt+5rb.
FC Barcelona 54 Catalana Occident Manresa 53: Tied contest with a last missing shot from Manresa at the buzzer. Guard Lluís Costa ('93) had 12 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists for Barcelona. Swedish Marcus Eriksson ('93) wasn't enough: 19 points with 3/7 from downtown.
Easo 75 Granada 85: With a huge last quarter (14-31) Granada made it behind Juan Hernández ('93), who ended with 22 points (9/13 FG), 8 boards and 3 steals. International Mikel Motos ('93), the best at the other side with 18 points and 8 rebounds (even 1/7 threes).
Valladolid 60 Fuenlabrada 86: 31% to 62% in twos. One of the keys. Portuguese guard Jonah Callenbach ('93) led the winners with 19 points (4/8 threes) and 6 rebounds. For Valladolid guard Jose Manuel Ramajo ('93) collected a double-double: 11pt+18rb+4st.
CAI Zaragoza 75 Cajasol Sevilla 70: Even their rising-star Javier Marin ('94) struggled on offense (0/10 FG, 7as, 5rb, 5st) CAI won with Roberto Pérez ('93) having 17 points (8/10 FG). The bad contest of georgian Beka Burjanadze ('94), one of the keys: 9pt with 2/19 FG and 5TO.
Fundación León 37 Fundación Baskonia 74: 10 to 96 in valoration. Too easy also. The two africans weren't enough at the losing effort, a team than made 1/18 at three points line. Forward Mamadou Diop ('93), best Baskonia scorer with 23 points and 5/11 from downtown.
Joventut 97 Albacete 44: Another game with no history, with many Joventut youngsters playing after starting with a 32-6 run in the first quarter. Guard Guillem Vives ('93) led the win with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 7 steals and 5 assists in only 21 minutes.
Photo: FIBA Europe / Robertas Dackus
