Gibraltar U18 women fall to Albania in tight contest in FIBA Classification round

Gibraltar women’s U18 basketball team were once again to find themselves struggling against Albania in the FIBA U18 EuroBasket Division C classification matches for positions 5-7 this Saturday afternoon.
Albania was to open the scoring after a tightly contested opening minute in which neither side had succeeded in finding the basket. Albania opened with a three-pointer, which was soon cancelled out by Gibraltar’s own three points.
Albania was to take command of the match by establishing a twelve-point advantage as they approached the midway point of the first quarter. It was a low-scoring start to the match, with the scoreboard reading 15-3 in Albania’s favour.
Gibraltar’s defence was struggling to contain Albania, while they also searched for a way forward offensively. It took some time before Gibraltar found the basket again, but they then began reducing the deficit.
The first quarter was to finish with Albania leading 26-14. Gibraltar’s women’s U18 side was once again struggling to find the basket while also attempting to contain their opponents defensively. Albania was finding it comfortable to press with a compact defence around their basket, which was paying dividends as Gibraltar failed to create enough opportunities to add points.
With Albania leading by twelve points, the chances of Gibraltar coming away with a positive result were already beginning to appear unlikely.
Albania, with a comfortable lead behind them, started the second quarter confidently, pressing Gibraltar and finding their first points within the opening minute of play.
It was once again a slow-scoring start to the second quarter, with just three points added to the scoreboard during the first two minutes of play, which were interrupted by several stoppages.
Gibraltar found themselves raising their intensity on the court for a period, with some of their rotations working in their favour. This allowed them to momentarily maintain the deficit within the margins established at the end of the first quarter.
These moments underlined how the team could perform at a higher level, but they still needed to find a way of maintaining that momentum for longer periods during the match.
Gibraltar reduced the deficit to seven points midway through the second quarter at 30-23, bringing it down further to six points as they approached the final three minutes of the half at 32-26.
Albania was to find themselves making adjustments once again, bringing a faster and more fluid flow to the match. An intense final two minutes before halftime saw the scoreline finish with Albania leading 38-28.
Gibraltar had succeeded in reducing the deficit overall by two points before the interval, having outscored their opponents 14-12 in the second quarter. This represented a marked difference from the opening period, where they had equalled their first-quarter score but had also restricted Albania’s offensive output.
Gibraltar started the third quarter positively, with two early points from their first venture forward.
The momentum from the second quarter was maintained during the early stages of the third, with Gibraltar keeping within the distance they had established before the break.
Putting behind previous performances that had seen them struggle for points in the latter quarters, Gibraltar worked to remain within single figures midway through the quarter. This eventually came despite Albania having already extended their lead to 49-38.
It was a valiant effort which, although unable to close the gap, prevented it from widening to the levels seen in previous matches after halftime.
The third quarter finished with Albania leading 56-42, adding just four points to the margin of advantage they had gained from the previous quarter. This left them fourteen points clear of Gibraltar, who were just two points away from achieving their highest score in the tournament.
It took Gibraltar some time to reach those points as they watched Albania increase their own tally.
Gibraltar’s U18s’ determination to take positives from the match saw them continue battling despite reaching the midway point of the final quarter without scoring. Albania had already moved ahead to 69-42.
Those points finally arrived with five minutes remaining, after Gibraltar had lost key players El Yeffetti and Dalmedo due to accumulated fouls.
With four minutes remaining, Gibraltar added a further three points to take their score to 47, although Albania had moved on to 80 points in the following action.
A pause while an Albanian player received treatment for an injury allowed Gibraltar some breathing space with three-and-a-half minutes remaining. During this time, the team received instructions from their coach.
Gibraltar reached the half-century mark, a milestone that had eluded them throughout the tournament, with one minute still remaining.
Although facing an 84-50 defeat at the hands of Albania, the fourth quarter had seen Albania extend their advantage. However, Gibraltar had provided a positive response, increasing their momentum and breaking through another barrier in terms of producing the points needed to compete.