Bascharage Hedgehogs edged North Fox 69-68 in the M-U18 Division 3 Phase finale opener in Bascharage, surviving a frantic finish to take the early lead in the round-robin standings.
The game swung wildly. North Fox burst out to 13-25 in the first quarter, fueled by Marvin Carvalho's 5 straight points to open and steady free throws from Robert Kremer. Bascharage absorbed an early unsportsmanlike on Chris Jay Reding, then answered with a 6-0 run capped by back-to-back threes from Romeo Vincenzo Giampaolo, trimming it to 21-25 before FOX closed the quarter up 21-27.
Bascharage flipped the script in the second frame behind captain Kodjovi Armel Yohann Koutsawa (Season PPG: 17.82), who pieced together a steady scoring burst to send the hosts to halftime ahead 44-39 after a 23-12 quarter. FOX regrouped in the third: Nils Rob (Season PPG: 15.71, 1.90m) and Dzenan Muratovic (16, MNE) pushed them to 46-50, only for Bascharage to reclaim 57-56 after a timely triple from Mathis Fischer (Season PPG: 2.30).
Bascharage looked in control at 69-62 late, built on a mini 4-0 from Koutsawa and an interior bucket by Viktor Pecirep (Season PPG: 6.09). Then came the drama: Rob committed his fifth foul in the closing stretch, and FOX struck back with two threes in a row Muratovic and Fynn Schlechter (Season PPG: 8.50) for a 6-0 run to 69-68. The final minute stayed scoreless through time-outs, and Bascharage held on. The winners in a one-possession game: Bascharage and Koutsawa, who delivered the final field goal for the hosts and finished with a game-high 25.
Bascharage's top contributors: Koutsawa 25, Giampaolo (Season PPG: 5.30) 12 with those first-quarter threes before fouling out, Pecirep 10, Fischer 8. For North Fox: Muratovic 21 in his season debut, Rob 15 before fouling out, Carvalho (1.91m; Season PPG: 12.43) 14, Schlechter 5 with the late triple. After Game 1, Bascharage sit first in the Phase finale table, North Fox second.
(AI generated)