T71 Dudelange controlled the second half to win 64-48 at Sparta Bertrange in the W-U16 Division 1 championship round. After a tight first half (10-10, then 13-12 for SPA for 23-22 at the break), Yves Marchi's team flipped the game with a 22-14 third quarter and closed with a 20-11 fourth.
Key swing came mid-third: SPA's Hanna Rotink (Season PPG: 15.00) strung together six straight points, turning 23-26 into a 29-26 lead, but T71 answered immediately with an 8-0 burst highlighted by a Shari Von Arx triple and a Jana Dos Santos three for 29-34. Later in the quarter, Matilde Pego Pinto took over; T71 produced another 6-0 run to 35-44 and never looked back. The largest lead reached 16 at the buzzer.
Pego Pinto led all scorers with 19, including 13 after halftime and a key fourth-quarter three right after SPA's 15-year-old captain Lilly Engels (Season PPG: 9.50) had cut it to 43-46. Noémie Baur (Season PPG: 7.23) closed it with back-to-back baskets in the final minute, while Marie Beffort Neuman (Season PPG: 8.80) delivered timely mid-range scores in the third and fourth. Von Arx (Season PPG: 11.50) added 9 and captained the floor well.
For SPA, Rotink's 18 kept the hosts in it through three quarters. Engels added 8 and a fourth-quarter triple; Lynn Blanc (Season PPG: 2.14) chipped in 6 above her season scoring rate. Kleio Chatzinikoli, 14 years old (Greece), had 4. Fouls stayed standard; no one fouled out.
T71 leads the head-to-head this season 3-0 against SPA. In the Phase finale table, T71 sit 2nd (+3 in ranking gain, 1-0), while SPA are 5th (0-1, +1). Coach Patrick Emile Henri Roilgen's side had the better of the first half, but T71's backcourt pace and two decisive third-quarter runs defined the outcome.
(AI generated)