Basket Esch edged Musel Pikes 80-77 in Dreiborn, taking over first place in the W-U16 Division 1 Phase finale and snapping Musel's long winning run.
Musel controlled the opening half. After a 22-16 first quarter, they opened the second with an 8-0 burst, including six straight points from Sonia Garcia Garcia (Season PPG: 16.62), and stretched the gap to +15 at 37-22. With Zoé Freitas (Season PPG: 27.38) steady at the line, the hosts went to the break up 43-34.
Esch's response came after halftime. Lana Clausi, Kim Ferron and Anaïs Gocel (15, FRA) fueled a 7-0 push to 47-41, and the visitors kept chipping away until the game tightened to 49-47. Musel briefly rebuilt a cushion when Garcia hit a three then a two for 57-50, but Ajla Adrovic answered with back-to-back baskets and Freitas added a string of free throws to set a 61-60 Musel lead after three.
The fourth quarter flipped for Esch. Musel moved ahead 63-60, then Esch strung together a 7-0 run Clausi from deep, Adrovic inside, Gocel in transition to 71-65. Gocel added four in a row to make it 75-67. Even after Adrovic (18 points, Season PPG: 16.00) fouled out, Esch managed the finish through Estelle Birnbaum and Clausi at the stripe. Musel's Marie Gloden (Season PPG: 17.00) scored the last four to bring it to 80-77, but Esch closed it out.
Top scorers: Esch Gocel 21, Clausi 20 (Season PPG: 15.10), Adrovic 18, Ferron 10, Birnbaum 9. Musel Freitas 21, Gloden 19, Coralie Heynen 14, Garcia 13. Coaches: Karim Elbaoune (Esch), Majdi Anan (Musel).
Context matters: Esch had lost both earlier season meetings (51-73, 66-81), but this time overturned a 15-point deficit and is now 3-0 in the Phase finale, on a three-game winning streak and ranked 1 (+1). Musel drops to 2-1 and rank 2 (-1) after an 11-game winning sequence ended.
(AI generated)