GABBA u14 girls in Cadiz Provincial league finals

GABBA 69 (Briella Bagu 24, Erin Doherty 21) - CB Prado 53 [15-11; 13-15; 15-13; 26-14,
Aggregate over 2 legs: GABBA 128 - CB Prado 103.

There was plenty of ‘ambiente’ in the stands of the TSH as the teams went through their warm-up drills on the brand new floor at noon on Saturday, generated by the visiting and local supporters.

A place in the Cadiz League was at stake and GABBA had come back from their two-and-a-half hours’ each way journey to Prado del Rey the previous week with a handy 9 points’ lead. This was quickly reduced to 4 as the visitors had the better start to go 8-3 up in the first 4 minutes. A firm reaction tied the scores, followed by a 7-0 burst to end the first quarter 15-11 up and the aggregate lead was now 13.

Two 3-pointers from Lily Mauro sparked off an 8-0 run to make it 27-17 with 3 minutes to half-time but, in that time, Prado regained control to hit a 9-1 split which shrank the score to 28-26 at the break.

During the interval, GABBA President John Gonçalves presented suitable mementos to Gino Jimenez, of CEPSA Gibraltar, and Albert Rocca, of XAPO Bank, in recognition of their sponsorship of the 5 teams which played in the Cadiz League this season

Coach Andrew Teuma brought back his starting 5 for the third quarter and soon went 31-27 up but, riding on the wave of the noisy support generated by their fans, Prado clocked up a 10-0 run which put them 37-31 up and just 3 short of the aggregate total. A time-out was called and the local girls returned to court clearly looking up to the challenge.

Erin Doherty and Briella Bagu took the game by the scruff of the neck and, ably supported by their team-mates, notably Chloe Balban, executed their devastating running game to perfection. The result was a 12-2 partial and a 43-39 lead at the end of the quarter.

The intensity in defence and accuracy in offence continued in the last quarter, recording a 20-10 split in the last 7 minutes to take the aggregate difference from just 3 points midway through the third quarter to a massive 25 in the end.

“And so to the final this weekend in Chiclana. Best of luck, Andrew and all the girls.”