Basket Esch B edged Etzella Ettelbruck B 74-73 at Deichwisen/Central, a one-point result that flips the top of the M-U16 Division 4 Phase 2 table: Esch move to 1st (+1), both teams now 4-1. Etzella's nine-game winning run ends with this narrow defeat.
Game evolution
Esch set the tone from deep. Mathis Bath Rama (Season PPG: 8.00) buried three triples in the opening period, and Jake Feller Birchen (Season PPG: 11.57) added long-range accuracy as the visitors closed the first quarter on an 8-0 burst. After a quiet middle stretch on the scoreboard, Esch broke away in the third behind Feller Birchen's threes and steady free throws, pushing the gap to 15 and then to a game-high 18 early in the fourth (51-69), with Colin Schneider and Amir Hamza adding timely triples.
Etzella answered with force in the paint. The hosts strung together a 12-0 run to cut it to 68-72, driven by captain Bastian Torres (Season PPG: 11.63) and Charel Hilger (Season PPG: 5.88). Yoann Ngan (Season PPG: 6.88), 15 years old, Italy, had earlier scored seven straight in the third to keep Ettelbruck in touch. Coach Stéphane Feller's timeout at 9' tried to halt the surge, yet Etzella kept coming and reached 73-74 after a late Hilger free throw. Esch held on in the final seconds.
Key performances
- Etzella: Torres 21, Hilger 20, Ngan 17; all their damage came inside and at the stripe no made three-pointers for the hosts.
- Esch: Feller Birchen 19 (three triples, 4/4 late FTs), Bath Rama 15 (three triples), Roger Bastien 8 (FRA), plus key threes from Schneider and Hamza.
The perimeter gap proved decisive: Esch scored 27 points from beyond the arc (nine made threes) to Etzella's 0. Edwin Pereira (Season PPG: 11.80) added important third-quarter twos, while Amilcar Rodrigues Moreira (LALB) navigated foul trouble late. Coach Guillaume François Torres' side nearly completed a remarkable comeback, but Esch's early cushion and poise from the line sealed first place.
(AI generated)