Basket Esch controlled Sparta Bertrange 60-50 in the M-U18 Division 2 Phase finale at Atert/Terrain 1, building the game on a strong first half and managing the finish. After a balanced start, Jamie Zuang sparked Esch with an early burst (five points in a short span) to edge the visitors ahead 12-17 after 10 minutes. The key stretch arrived mid-second quarter: following an unsportsmanlike foul on Nikolaos Papanikolaou, Esch pieced together a 9-0 run, capped by a Benjamin Muller three, to surge from 18-23 to 18-32. Coach Dejan Pavlovic's team reached the break up 22-39.
Sparta responded after halftime under coach Christian Michael Wulff. Ata Tastekin (Season PPG: 12.71; 1.91 m, 16) carried the offense with 18 points, trimming the margin during a 17-16 third quarter. Early in the fourth, however, Muller (15 pts; Season PPG: 14.23) pushed Esch to the night's largest gap at +19 (39-58). Sparta closed on a 6-0 run through Tim Reisdorffer (Season PPG: 4.17) and Jules Wurth (Season PPG: 9.75), but the deficit proved too large.
For Esch, Emmanuel Jesus Frederico (12 pts; Season PPG: 14.69), a 17-year-old 2.00 m forward from CPV, and Zuang (9 pts; Season PPG: 8.29) backed Muller, with Kyan Braunshausen adding 8 (Season PPG: 5.36). Alongside Tastekin, Papanikolaou (6; Season PPG: 9.08) and Reisdorffer (6) were Sparta's main contributors.
In the standings, Esch climbs to 3rd (2-2, +1), while Sparta slips to 4th (2-2, -1). The second-quarter swing punctuated by Esch's 9-0 burst was the decisive phase despite Sparta's late push.
(AI generated)