Racing Luxembourg won 87-73 at Basket Esch in the opening game of M-U18 Division 1 Phase 1 and moved into 2nd place, with Esch 3rd after round one.
The game was shaped very early. After a 2-2 start, Racing went on a strong 23-3 stretch to close the first quarter 25-9. Yair Portal Levav (16, 1.89m, RAC) set the tone immediately, scoring Racing's first 6 points and already reaching 12 in the opening period. Simon Derwael-Thomsin (16, RAC) added efficient support, and coach Hristo Stoykov's team imposed the tempo.
Basket Esch reacted well in the second quarter. Amar Feratovic (17, LAL), Maël Gevrey (16, LAL) and Nazem Verbecque (17, LAL) helped trim the gap, and Esch won the period 26-20. Racing's lead was cut to 8 points more than once, including 35-43 before the break, so coach Dejan Pavlovic's side showed a good response after the difficult start.
Racing controlled the third quarter again. Portal Levav stayed productive, Jorge Leocadio Botelho (17, RAC) brought 12 points overall, and Martin Cuesta Jaramillo (15, RAC) kept adding interior scoring. Esch stayed alive through Alexandre Kremer (16, LAL), who finished with 12 points, and Tommy Brad Kamewe Nguedia (17, LAL), who scored 9, but Racing still led 63-50 entering the last quarter.
Esch made one more push to 55-63, with Kamewe Nguedia scoring 4 points in a row, but Racing answered quickly. Cuesta Jaramillo scored repeatedly in the fourth, Derwael-Thomsin hit a key three, and the visitors stretched the margin to 20 points at 83-63, their highest lead of the game.
Top scorers were Portal Levav with 30 for Racing, Derwael-Thomsin with 18, Cuesta Jaramillo with 16 and Leocadio Botelho with 12. For Esch, Gevrey led with 16, ahead of Kremer's 12, while Feratovic added 9 and NNGANYADI Kevin Kelechi (17, 1.86m, LAL) had 8.
(AI generated)