LFB match: Saint Jacques Sport Reims take down Aix-en-Provence

Saint Jacques Sport Reims make the most of LFB match against Aix-en-Provence

Reims took off successfully after LFB break

The first minute of the LFB match was all action as the players hustled around the court. Yacine Sene put the first point on the board for Aix with 13 seconds on the shot clock. Manon Sinico responded shortly after for Reims.

In the meanwhile a match within the match was established. For the guests Anastasia Kostaki and K. B. Sharp took on Mia Fisher and Anne-Marie Parau of Reims.

Parau strives in such confrontations and hit a trey to give her side the lead. Kostaki then managed to weave her way through the Reims defence and released a back door pass for Magali Lacroix (left). She then tipped the ball in for Aix (4-5).

Thereafter the pace of the game went up and caution was thrown out the window by both teams. Sinco picked up a second personal foul and gave way for Anne-Sophie Pagnier.

Pagnier’s first action was to sprint from mid-court to the basket and score. This sparked the hosts for a 10-4 run with Zuzanna Klimesova in particular coming up with big shots. Meanwhile Lacroix was throwing her weight around in the box and kept Aix in touch (16-10).

The game was becoming more and more physical as the players looked for openings. Marie-Laure Fleury-Kindoki scored the last points of the first quarter right on the buzzer. Her jump shot at the top of the key just outside the paint made her end up on her backside as she was knocked flying. Yet no foul was called.

Mame Marie Sy, solid around the boards, came to Reims’ rescue

The second quarter was not pretty to watch with plenty of arms and elbows and very little scoring in the first five minutes.

Mame Marie Sy Sharp who had won the mini-contest in the first period was thrown off guard by some tactical changes by Reims. This saw her pick up three personal fouls. With little scoring going on, the treys from Stéphanie Beuzelin and Pagnier got the crowd going.

Aix switched from their aggressive stance to a more fluid running game causing Reims problems and quickly reduced their deficit (26-28).

Mame Marie Sy, (above) solid around the boards, came to Reims’ rescue with back to back scores. By the time Fisher hit a jumper (32-26) it appeared that Reims had weathered the storm.

Erik Lehmann, the Aix head coach, switched the roles of Kostaki and Sharp. Sharp was able to use her acceleration with her opponents allowing her a little extra room to operate. The result was back to back three-pointers by Sene including one at the period-ending-buzzer. All the same Reims went into the interval (34-32).

Kostaki came up with some magic

The third period was end to end basketball. The pace suited Parau who came up with a moment of inspiration with a drive to the basket. She managed to deliver a blind-behind-the-head pass to Sy who then scored (38-34).

Kostaki came up with some magic, when she managed to float a three-pointer over the head of Sy to give Aix a brief advantage (39-38).

Klimesova did not appreciate that move on Sy. And on the very next play she put Reims back in front with an audacious but characteristic three-point jump shot. She took a step back before releasing the ball.

This fired up Sinico to give a demonstration in perseverance as she managed to keep control of the ball in a reverse spin jump shot attempt. This turned into a kick-out to the corner for Pagnier who hit a three-pointer (44-39).

Lacroix was on hand to steady the Aix ship as they refused to allow the hosts to escape (43-46).

Pagnier then ended the scoring in the period on the buzzer by running to the basket. She managed to draw Kostaki into fouling her while she completed a lay-up She then made the free-throw giving Reims a (51-44) lead going into the final period.

Sauret called for a time-out which turned out to be the key moment for Reims

Anda Jekabsone who was used sparingly in the game, came off the bench at the start of the fourth quarter . She caused her marker all kinds of problems by scoring 4 points and making a couple of steals.

Philippe Sauret decided to counter the problem by taking out Fleury-Kindoki and bringing on Sy. Her first action was to block Kostaki. This knocked Kostaki off her stride for the remaining of the game.

Sy then scored what would have been the point of the game: a reserve-spin turn around lay-up. It did not count as she was called for travelling.

K B Sharp Reims finally got off the mark after 4:20 in the last period with a pair of free-throws from Fisher. Sharp (left) responded immediately with a lay-up. The status quo was maintained with Reims leading (53-50).

Sauret called for a time-out which turned out to be the key moment for Reims in the game. When the play resumed, it was Klimesova who found herself fighting for the ball on the floor. She won the battle and managed to pass the ball out to Pagnier who was free in the corner. Pagnier hit her third three-pointer of the evening.

Aix failed to execute their next move correctly and were then hit on a counter attack which was completed by Sy. She managed a spectacular single step duck-drive jump shot and scored (58-52).

Sy was to foul out on her next action when she reached in on Liad Suez-Karni, who then split the pair. Lacroix was on hand to score again for the guest (60-55) when the game entered the last minutes.

Both sides threw caution to the wind in the last minute and rushed their shots. Aix, running out of time and options, left Parau in their haste all the space and time she required to hit a shot from down-town. Her facing the basket to drill the three finished the game (63-55) with less than 1/10 of second left.

Pagnier and Klimesova scored 14 points apiece to lead the scoring while Fisher had 11. SY scored 8 points and finished with 17 rebounds while Parua also scored 8 points and dished out 6 assists.

Lacroix led all scoring with 19 points for Aix and was the only player for her side in double digits. Sharp scored 9 points and dished out 4 assists.

Box Score

LFB match comments

This is a summary of all the LFB match comments. If you wish to listen to them in full (some are in French), please click on the red button beside the picture of the persons interviewed.

Sauret was delighted to have taken the scalp of another team that has played in Europe this season. Furthermore he expressed his happiness about the team’s spirit. He was also pleased to see that even with his key players subdued, others stepped up like Anne-Sophie Pagnier. She had finally regained her mark at three-point shooting.

Lehmann said that despite his team having prepared for Reims defensive lapses let them down. Seeing the other results this night, he is aware that Aix has to try harder in order to stay in the LFB.

Sene from Aix confirmed that the team was pre-warned about what might happen to them in this match. And yet they let it happen.

Konstaki congratulated the Reims players for their offensive display. Concerning her team she is positive for the future. She feels that once integrated into a different position everything will be alright.

All the players from Reims were busy congratulating each other for a great team effort. Pagnier added that it was especially good after having lost the first game against Aix by a big margin to now beat them. Sy confirmed that relegation was no longer an issue. Whereas Fisher emphasized again on the team’s collectiveness while Parau was just happy for the win.