US Heffingen controlled the second half in Steinsel to beat Amicale Steesel 51-38 in the W-U14 Division 2 Phase finale. Amicale started fast, riding a personal 6-0 burst from Marlene Franziska Beauloye to build a 16-8 lead late in the first quarter, capped by an 8-0 team run. Coach Alexandra Lamesch's timeout settled things initially, but the game swung in the second. Emma Koenig answered with three straight baskets for Heffingen, and José Alberto Pais Costa's team closed the half on a 5-0 spurt to edge ahead 25-24.
After the break, the contest was tied at 26-26 before Léini Dostert (Season PPG: 10.22) took over. She drove a late third-quarter 6-0 stretch (Amelia Joan Morton adding two of those points) to push HEF out to 40-33. The fourth quarter opened with back-to-back scores from Lou Krieps, and Heffingen's lead quickly reached double digits, eventually peaking at +13 at the buzzer. Timeouts from both benches Lamesch early in Q4 and Pais Costa midway could not halt the visitors' momentum.
Heffingen's balance told: Dostert led all scorers with 17, Krieps added 10 (Season PPG: 2.56), Koenig 8 (Season PPG: 7.45) during that key second-quarter run, and Morton (12, AUS; Season PPG: 7.36) chipped in 8 with timely finishes. For Amicale, Leandra Pires de Sousa (12, PRT; Season PPG: 6.10) and Beauloye (Season PPG: 10.40) each scored 10, Liz Adam (Season PPG: 5.43) had 8, and Mia Würth (Season PPG: 5.10) hit the game's lone three-pointer.
Heffingen outscored Amicale 26-14 after halftime and climbed to second place in the phase standings, while Amicale remains fifth. Notably, HEF returned to winning ways after two straight losses.
(AI generated)