Basket Esch B won 62-51 against Telstar Hesperange B in the M-U18 Division 5 phase finale and moved up to 2nd place (+1), while TELB slipped to 3rd (-1). It was a fourth straight win for Esch.
The away team had the better opening. Fabio Massimo Gilotti Gonzalez (Season PPG: 6.25) gave TELB early impulse from long range, and Hesperange started on a 9-0 run. That first push was enough for a 15-11 lead after one quarter.
Basket Esch B, coached by Quinten Nelson, settled in during the second period. The home team held TELB to only 4 points in the quarter and reversed an 11-17 deficit into a 21-19 halftime lead. That defensive stretch changed the game rhythm.
The decisive swing came in the third quarter. TELB went back in front at 27-23, but Noah Schwarz (Season PPG: 21.38) then controlled the scoring. He produced 16 points in the period and pushed Esch from 23-27 to 43-36. After TELB had edged ahead 36-35, LALB answered with 8 unanswered points to finish the quarter strongly.
Esch carried that momentum into the fourth. Schwarz scored 5 points in a row at the start of the period, and the home side reached its biggest lead at 62-41. Coach Uchenna Agada called timeout at 50-36, but the gap kept growing before TELB closed on a 10-0 run.
Schwarz finished with 32 points, built on 10 made 2-pointers, 3 made 3-pointers and 3 free throws. Moris Czerwonka (Season PPG: 8.44) and Eliaz Kaiser (Season PPG: 6.00) both added 8 points. For TELB, Grégoire Leclercq (Season PPG: 12.07) and Gilotti Gonzalez both scored 14, while Mael Andé Cornou (18, FRA) added 6. Nikola Angelov Mratsenkov's unsportsmanlike foul in the fourth came during Esch's decisive phase.
(AI generated)