BC Mess edged Black Star Mersch 98-89 in Mondercange in the M-U18 Division 2 Phase finale, completing a season sweep after the 93-80 win in Phase 1. The game ebbed and flowed: Mess burst to 28-21 after the first quarter, but Mersch rallied to 30-30 and even led 31-33 and 34-35 mid-second. Coach Joao Carlos Santiago Janeiro's side then authored the decisive first-half swing, an 18-4 run to 54-42 at the break.
Black Star, under coach Jérôme Hansen, mounted a serious third-quarter response. Trey Sean Boayue (30 pts, captain) powered the comeback, and Sam Tibold (16 pts) hit a late three to close it to 73-70 after three. In that stretch, Jamie Freymann (Season PPG: 18.92) kept Mess stable by scoring nine points in a row, a personal run that stopped the bleeding.
Early in the fourth, free throws from Mess rebuilt a cushion to 79-70. An unsportsmanlike foul on Rafael Da Fonseca Rocha gave Mersch an opening (84-76), and Mike Gohlhausen (10 pts) drilled two late threes to trim it to five (86-81, then 93-86). But with Boayue fouling out in the last period, Mess closed through Freymann and Pedrito Kemevuako (Season PPG: 20.25), who combined for key late baskets.
Freymann (40 pts, 1.80m, 17) led all scorers with 12 made free throws, 11 two-pointers and two threes; Kemevuako (27 pts, 1.80m, 17) added nine twos and six free throws. André Cristostomo Ribeiro (Season PPG: 7.67) chipped in 17 with two triples. For Black Star, beyond Boayue's 30 (12 two-pointers and six free throws), Luis Henrique Duarte Almeida Evora (Season PPG: 7.14, 17, CPV) scored 14, while Leandro Da Silva Nunes added 11. Team totals underline the balance: Mess hit 7 threes and 19 free throws; Black Star answered with 5 threes and 17 free throws.
Mess twice led by as many as 12 (54-42, 93-81) and have now won two straight. Black Star slip to a three-game losing streak.
(AI generated)