The Belgians, Kats, are in the European Championship final for the first time. Against France, the finish became a real nail-biter, but the Belgian team – led by the unstoppable Emma Messemann – held their ground. Tomorrow evening, the cats will have the opportunity to win the European title against Spain.
Very strong first half of the Cats
Before the European Championships, the Belgian cats announced that they were tired of bronze medals and so the goal was to reach the final. The final hurdle before the feat was the toughest test yet, with powerful France as the challenger.
The French started the match with a knife in their teeth and tried to unbalance Belgium with some serious mistakes. They did it with the permission of three weak referees who did not quite act at the level of the European Championship.
But the French plan didn’t work out in an impressive first half for the Belgian Cats, who imposed their will on the opposition. Emma Meesseman took her team and got a lot of help from Julie Vanloo, who bombarded France with three-pointers from all over the court.
France resists, but the cats have the last word
In the first half the difference was 14 points in favor of Belgium, but you never finished with the French national team. The vice-champion stepped it up a notch after the break and grabbed the Cats powerhouse down the field.
The Belgian scoring machine stopped and few turned up from the bench, save for the very hard-working Mononga. Moreover, the French shots that did not fall before the break were now entered.
The faith of our southern neighbors has clearly grown, in direct proportion to the nervousness of the cats. They suffered a huge loss of possession after the break, but were able to hold on thanks to the experience of director Allemand and world class Emma Meesseman.
In a nerve-wracking finish, it was Allemand who finally counted the Frenchman out with two last-minute free throws.
On Sunday evening, the Belgian Kats are playing for the gold medal against Spain, the basketball superpower. At 8 pm belgian ladies have a date with the date.
Belgium: Meesseman 24, Vanloo 18, Allemand 10, Linskens 7, Delaere 3, Lisowa 2, Mununga 2, RĂ©simont 1.
Belgian cats in the European Basketball Championship
last | |||
---|---|---|---|
Spain | Belgium | 8 p.m |
semi final | |||
---|---|---|---|
Spain | Hungary | 69-60 | |
Belgium | France | 67-63 | a report |
Quarterfinals | |||
---|---|---|---|
Hungary | Czech Republic | 62-61 | |
Belgium | Serbia | 93-53 | a report |
France | the black Mountain | 89-46 | |
Spain | Germany | 67-42 |
Group B results | |||
---|---|---|---|
Italy | Czech Republic | 58-61 | |
Belgium | Israel | 108-59 | a report |
Czech Republic | Belgium | 41-84 | a report |
Israel | Italy | 68-88 | |
Belgium | Italy | 72-64 | a report |
Czech Republic | Israel | 61-52 |
Group B final standings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
M | w | Fifth | +/- | points | ||
1. | Belgium | 3 | 3 | 0 | +100 | 6 |
2. | Czech Republic | 3 | 2 | 1 | -31 | 5 |
3. | Italy | 3 | 1 | 2 | +9 | 4 |
4. | Israel | 3 | 0 | 3 | -78 | 3 |
Belgium plays its group matches in Tel Aviv, Israel. The winners of the four groups go directly to the quarter-finals, and the numbers 2 and 3 play vault.
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