85-77. CB Sant Antoni stands up to Menorca but falls by eight points difference

Class Bàsquet Sant Antoni lost this Sunday against Hestia Menorca in the final of the AON Trophy, organized by the Balearic Islands Basketball Federation. Portmany’s team fell 85-77 in a very even match played at the Pavelló Menorca. The block trained by Carles Flores knew how to suffer, but was not able to break a Menorcan team led by a huge Kravtsov, author of 23 points and dominating in the paint. On the San Antonio side, Zurbriggen stood out in scoring, finishing the game with 18 points.

From the first quarter it was already warned that it was going to be a very even match. The first ten minutes ended with a tight 17-16 in the electronic. In the second act, the Hestia tripled the Class. One by Álvaro Sanz and another by Diego Alderete set off the first alarms on the San Antonio bench. The coach of the Ibizan block requested time out to stop a Menorca that escaped until 23-16. The Menorcans continued to lead the charge, although Sant Antoni never lost face in the clash. A basket of two scored by De la Rúa allowed the pitiusos to go into the break only five points down (41-36).

The start of the third quarter for Flores was to forget. Six straight points from Kravtsov (47-36) fired at the Menorcans, who later established an advantage of +18 (56-38), confirmed with a triple from Alderete. Sant Antoni, however, brought out their courage and good work, to get back into the game with a 0-11 run. Triples by Jonats (two) and Carreño (one), in addition to two free kicks scored by De la Rúa, made it 56-49. Javi Zamora, Hestia’s coach, didn’t want any shocks and stopped the match with a timeout. At the end of the period, the Menorcans were still ahead (63-56).

Already in the last quarter, Portmany’s men did not break down, and thanks to a spectacular Grimau they turned the match around until 65-66. Zamora was once again forced to ask for time to put his team’s ideas in order and stop a progressing Sant Antoni. Álvaro Sanz and Kravtsov put Hestia on their backs and endorsed a 12-0 partial for the Ibizan team, which tried until the end, but could not avoid defeat (85-77). Flores’ men lacked continuity in their game, although they ran into a rival who finally lifted the cup. Both will face each other this season with Fibwi Palma, the three representatives of the Balearic Islands in the East group of the LEB Plata. There is no more evidence. Next weekend the competition begins.

Data sheet:

Hestia Menorca 85: 17/24/22/22

Tomaic (4), Sanz (14), Alderete (13), Molins (10), Kravtsov (23) –starting five- García (7), Jiménez, Yomi (4), Suárez, Arroyo (4), Longarela (3 ) and Tamayo (3).

Class Basketball Sant Antoni 77: 16/20/20/21

Zurbriggen (18), Jonats 14), De la Rúa (10), Omeragic (5), Carreño (7) –five starters- Mollgaard (2), Haro (2), Medori, Da Silva (6) and Grimau (13 ).

Referees: Jose Miguel Reigal and Octavio Saura. Without eliminated.

Table scorers: Paula Ferri and Cristina Lluch.

Incidents: Third day of the AON Illes Balears Trophy. Pavello Menorca.