Major issue. In the first leg at the end of October, the Gascony blues lost 64-60 in Veneto. This Wednesday evening it was a Gascon raid. And there you have it again, it was once again a damn fine poster. The first in Euroleague Group A receives its runner-up. Schio, let's say it clearly and it has been said, without presuming the match or disrespecting the transalpine players, Schio is at the heart of the Landes furia. We still need a match without blunders and without erasures. In Mitterrand, still stuffed like a stuffed hen, Julie Barennes' daughters will want to follow up with a new success. Trying if possible not to put your spleen in short boil as was the case during the stifling last quarter last week against Salamanca. We expect the Landeses to be more efficient and realistic to avoid running out of oxygen and end the fear in their stomachs. We will need more application and continuity. The match against Salamanca was a kind of improbable scenario which saw BL lead in the first two quarters and hiccup in their basketball after the break only to be caught up following. Crap! Schio has an untenable troublemaker, the French International Janelle Salaun. The tall winger from the federal center and who started at Flammes Carolo is the best scorer on her team with an average of almost 18 points per game, the fourth best scorer in the Euroleague this season.
This is a breathtaking game! Manhandled in the first half, clumsy, uninspired and unproductive in the rebounds, the Landes produced a stratospheric second half! Trailing 34-29 to the lemons, the young ladies of Gascony turned the tide just as much as the table. They explode the match. And the statistics. Basket Landes takes the advantage for the first time in the match in the middle of the third quarter. 48-47. A small point. A puddle that will become an ocean! Through Geiselsoder, Lacan, Macquet and Bussière, the daughters of Julie Barennes make Mitterrand roar. Sacré decides that this quarter, the third, who sees a wave in blue and white seize the ball. The floor is their territory. The defense is huge. The baskets fit. The coach has changed donkey. Among the Venetians we do not give up and we try with Salaün, André, Keys and the great Latvian Laksa, their quartet of masterpieces. Nothing helps. BL makes juice from Schio oranges. The Landes bench enters for the blow. Julie Barennes carefully manages to bring out four players at once to destabilize the Italians who are losing their Latin skills. Ite missa est. Mass is said.Basket Landes lights up one November evening. These girls are capable of anything! And especially the best.
The sequel. BL qualified for the second round and finished, it is historic, at the top of the Euroleague Group A standings.
The first match of this second round will take place in Mont-de-Marsan, on December 11 with the reception of Bourges.
Next match, in the French championship, Sunday with BL traveling to Lattes Montpellier.
