Youth international basketball qualification round continues
The youth international basketball U18 tournament in Eilat started with a bang on day 5 as Germany ended the unbeaten run of Bosnia and Herzegovina (70-64).
Finland stay in the hunt for a quarter-final place after beating England (57-53).
Slovenia joined Hungary from Group E in the quarter-final. However the last two places will be decided on the final day of group action between England, Finland, Portugal and Romania.
Croatia are out of the run after losing (61-66) to Denmark.
Israel beat Greece (66-54) with a more balanced attack with four players in double digits to remain on top of Group F.
Germany joins Bosnia in the quarter-final, while the last place from Group F for the quarter-final stage will be decided in the match between Denmark and Greece.
You can read more about youth international basketball reports from the following games by clicking on the links or scrolling down the page:
U18 youth international basketball 2009 audio after match commentsLars Ekström, the Finnish head coach, was happy with the start of the game despite the fact that the ball refused to drop.
He believed that his players were a little excited at the moment. So they would have to concentrate and defend and go for fast breaks.
Vilja Kesänen and Laura Saarinen, together after the match, explained that the defense was good and everybody played hard throughout the game and did not give up.
The three-point shooting was not good but they did well in rebounding and expected to win the following day and would hit the three-pointers.
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Both teams started slowly as they played a little cat and mouse (8-8) for the first five minutes.
Hungary then stepped on the turbo and in less than 60 seconds with Réka Bálint firing in a three-pointer quickly followed by points from Alma Németh and Dorottya Tamis they extended their lead against Portugal (14-8).
Mariyana Kostourkova, the head coach from Portugal, called for a time-out. Her girls slowed down the pace of the game and stopped the Hungarian onslaught.
Hungary still ended the first period ahead (18-10).
Hungary dominated the first six minutes of the second quarter and pushed their advantage up to 12 points (25-12) with four minutes remaining in the quarter.
A three-pointer by Filipa Bernardeco got the Portuguese bench off their feet in the only highlight before the interval and their side leading (30-20).
Portugal were more aggressive defensively in the third period.
They restricted Hungary to just 4 points in the first five minutes while scoring 8 points after Daniela Domingues hit a couple of free-throws (34-28).
Hungary reacted and put together an 8-0 run and regained control of the game again. They went into the final period leading (46-33).
Hungary were never in danger again and went on to win comfortably (58-45).
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This action forced Lars Ekström (left), the coach from Finland, to call a time-out.
Things did not improve for Finland with Josephine Salmon hitting a trey.
England continued to score regularly and led (27-19) with just under three minutes left to play.
When the Finnish coach called for another time-out the pace picked up with a flourish of baskets from both sides.
This annoyed Deirdre Hayes, (right) the English head coach, who called for a time-out with 55 seconds left to play with England leading (31-24).
Yet Anni Mäkitalo punished England twice for poor execution to reduce her side's deficit at the interval (28-31).
The pace went up slightly and England became more aggressive: Clark blocked Mäkitalo and Katrin Chiemeka picked the ball on the baseline and went coast to coast to score.
Mäkitalo was then called for an intentional foul on Chiemeka, who hit the free-throws.
England then went on the rampage with Jamila Thompson and Kristie Sheils opening their accounts. This allowed England to go into the final period leading (45-38).
Finland punished England for every turnover committed and regained the lead (48-46) with six minutes left to play.
England continued to turn the ball over and then allowed Mirka Kilpijärvi (right) to walk into the paint for a lay-up (52-48) with 3:11 to play.
Finland’s patience paid off and Kilpijärvi was left open to score (54-48) with 1:41 to play.
Finland held on to win (57-53).
Gabriela Cursaru (right) put the shot of the period as she hit a fade-way three-pointer from one meter behind the three-point line just as the 24-second violation clock was to sound. She hit a second three seconds later from the baseline (31-15).
Slovenia changed their approach and went to a full court press. The game was becoming a youth international basketball classic as Romania went into the final period leading (45-40).
