AB Contern edged Amicale Steesel 63-59 in Steinsel, taking a close one after a tense final quarter in the M-U14 Division 2 championship round.
Amicale started better, riding late first-quarter baskets from Aiden Riley Smith (Season PPG: 10.5) and Maxime Kapgen (Season PPG: 13.33) to lead 18-16 after 10 minutes. In the second, Contern briefly flipped it with a 6-0 run to 24-23, before Amicale answered through Harons Rafaels Faduls (Season PPG: 9.0) and Levi Lepage Post (Season PPG: 15.4) for a 33-27 halftime lead, the hosts' biggest margin.
The third quarter swung back and forth. Gabriel Rasque Schmitt (Season PPG: 11.71) strung together four straight points to tie it at 36-36. Charel Patz hit a timely three for 41-36, but Max Muller replied with back-to-back scores to level at 44-44. Amicale still held a 46-44 edge entering the fourth.
Coach Jeff Bevilacqua's team seized control at the start of the last period with a 6-0 burst (Muller 4 pts) to 50-46 and never trailed again. André Ferreira added important buckets, while Muller kept attacking the rim, scoring 10 points in the fourth and pushing the lead as high as +7 (63-56). Amicale kept it alive with two Lepage Post triples in the quarter and a late Kapgen three for 59-63, but Contern managed the closing possessions.
Standouts: Muller (32 pts; Season PPG: 36.71) dominated scoring and produced multiple personal runs in the third and fourth. Rasque Schmitt added 13, with Lex Chiarandini and Felix Zoller contributing 5 each, Ferreira 4 late. For Amicale, Smith (16) led the way impressive from the 13-year-old supported by Lepage Post (13), Kapgen (10), Patz (9) and Faduls (7).
Contern remain perfect in Phase 2 (2-0) and extend their overall winning streak to six, sitting atop the classification. Amicale fall to 0-2 in Phase 2 but are currently third. Coach Thorsten Freiheit's side showed resilience, leading by six at the half, yet couldn't withstand Contern's decisive final-quarter run.
(AI generated)