Gréngewald Hueschtert, now first in the M-U18 Division 3 final phase with a gain of one place, beat third-placed AS Soleuvre 61-54 in a close game at Oberanven/Central. It was also GRE's second win over Soleuvre this phase after the 81-73 road result in the first meeting.
Coach Paul Penning's team set the tone immediately with a 10-0 opening run. Raik Steyer (Season PPG: 13.73) and Oliver Thomas Stobart (Season PPG: 7.64) were central in that start, and GRE led 21-14 after the first quarter. Soleuvre settled in during the second period through Lex Lahure (Season PPG: 17.80) and Nik Lahure (Season PPG: 9.20), cutting the gap to 28-22 at halftime.
The key passage came in the third quarter. Soleuvre reduced the margin to 33-30, but Gréngewald answered well and stretched it to 45-33, the biggest lead of the evening, before going into the last quarter at 45-36. Soleuvre still produced a strong reaction: a 9-2 push early in the fourth brought the score back to 47-45, and the visitors were still within 59-54 late in the game.
Steyer made the biggest difference, finishing with 26 points, built on 10 two-pointers and 2 threes, and he scored 10 of GRE's last 14 points. Stobart added 14, while 18-year-old Lithuanian Egidijus Jarukaitis gave useful support with 7. For Soleuvre, Lex Lahure scored 17, Pol Diedenhofen (Season PPG: 14.30) had 14, and Nik Lahure added 13. Each time Soleuvre threatened, Gréngewald found the right scoring answer.
(AI generated)