The dream ends in the quarter-finals. Estra Venezia reaches Il Tirreno in the semi-finals

Pistoia. It was a different game compared to last Sunday, but good faith is not enough when shooting percentages are low (27/9 from 3, 10/21 from free throws is terrible), especially when accompanied by the absence of a competitive Willis (1/8 from 3, 0/3 from Two) With his worst performance of the season, reflected by the usual Moore and the good news from Varnado, on the field although not at his best due to the shoulder pain that has tormented him since Sunday and the growing Ogbeide, ready to make passes and put his body to work against Kabengele but also suffering from Bad ratio of line.

Estra honors her Final Eight participation by never giving up until the final seconds, and receives good news from Del Chiaro Wheatle. Now there will be time to recharge the batteries – the tournament stops for fifteen days due to the national team's commitments, immediately after the Coppa Italia finals – and recover physically for those players who are more tired and in poor physical condition to present themselves at their best. When Derthona 2.0 arrives at PalaCarrarara on the first Sunday of March, revamped by new coach De Raffaele after a poor start.

Istra tried against Reyer, and immediately showed the right face: alert in defence, able to take good shots but certainly with a little luck. Even Reyer didn't shoot with good percentages, far from it, but where points didn't arrive, rebounds arrived, home specialty (in the end there would be a total of 52, a record): Tessitori and Kabengele showed technique and physicality against Ogbede and Del Chiaro, keeping The orogranata was on the waterline, while the reds and whites did not find the necessary accuracy.

Balanced from the start (8-7, 13-4), Pistoia was good in defense, suffering two early errors from Ogbede but getting good responses from Del Chiaro. Varnado is also involved in the game, he finds good baskets even if he slowly gets tired and is not in good physical condition, but it is important to see him very attentive and engaged.

We go to the long half with Reyer leading by two goals (36-34), and it is a very open game, despite the free throws that do not go in and a quiet evening by Willis who tries to put himself at the service of his teammates, but in the third quarter Reyer comes out and does not forgive every mistake made by the group. brynza. The score began to widen (46-38); Pistoia then scored 5-0, reviving the red and white team and leaving them close to their opponent (53-47), before Kabengele grabbed the offensive rebound and hit good second shots (56-47). At the end of the quarter, Reyer leads by 11 points (51-50), which is not a large lead but which Pistoia will not be able to close, either due to fatigue or because it is not really an evening of shooting. . The percentages drop further, with only Moore finding the basket with greater consistency. At 69-60 to Reyer, there seems to still be little possibility of reopening the game but Pistoia does convert some good possessions while on the other side the big man Wiltjer gives crucial points to his team, with the usual help from Tucker (23). for him). Pistoia does not find the strength to recover (71-63; 74-65) and ends his second participation in the Italian Cup with a more than honorable performance. Many Pistoia fans who follow the team praised their players.

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