Basket Esch edged Musel Pikes 78-77 in Dreiborn after a tense finish, completing a season sweep in W-U19 Division 1 (76-68 in Phase 1, 78-77 here). Esch climb to 4th (+1) at 1-2, while Musel slide to 5th (-1) at 0-3.
Musel started fast and physical under coach Marc Hahnemann, riding a 17-3 surge from 3-4 to 20-7, with Nanda Kleuls (22 pts, 17 years, 1.73m; Season PPG: 15.43) steady at the line and Lilli Fischer active early. Esch, led by coach Karim Elbaoune, answered with a 6-0 close to the first quarter (20-13) and kept chipping away through free throws in Q2: Estelle Birnbaum (21; Season PPG: 8.50) fueled the comeback, while Lana Clausi (10) strung together multiple trips to the line. An unsportsmanlike on Hannah Curridor in mid-Q2 and a C1 against Esch's bench punctuated a whistle-heavy stretch. Musel still held a 38-36 edge at the break.
The third quarter flipped the game. Ajla Adrovic (12, 15 years) buried a three for Esch's first lead, and out of a 48-48 timeout the visitors blasted a 7-0 run Valentin, Wallenborn and a big triple by Alma Maria Eudier (5, 16, DEU) to go up 55-48. Musel fought back to 58-59 entering the fourth.
Curridor (18; Season PPG: 13.00) and Kleuls briefly restored Musel's lead with a series of free throws, but Adrovic went on a personal 4-0, later adding another basket for 66-69. Laure Valentin (9; Season PPG: 9.75) then hit back-to-back twos for Esch's largest cushion (73-68). Fischer (11) later fouled out, a blow to Musel's ball-handling in the final minute. Musel tied it at 75-75, but Clausi calmly knocked down two free throws, and Adrovic added what proved to be the game-winning point at 75-78. Curridor's last layup set the 77-78 final.
Top performers:
- Musel: Nanda Kleuls (22), Hannah Curridor (18), Lilli Fischer (11).
- Esch: Estelle Birnbaum (21), Ajla Adrovic (12), Laure Valentin (9), Lana Clausi (10 with clutch late free throws). Esch halt a three-game skid with this narrow road win.
(AI generated)