FIJI GO DOWN FIGHTING TO SPAIN

Starting with a small line-up of Mikaelar Whippy, Valerie Nainima, Letava Whippy, Ofa Moce and Matila Waqandrola, the Fijians made the first score through a 3 pointer from Nainima to lead 3 - nil after just 40 seconds of the game, however, this was the only lead to be enjoyed by them.  Spain opted for experience in their starters as predicted by the Fiji coaching staff in Amaya Valdermoro, Elisa Aguilar, Laia Palau, Anna Montanana and Lucia Pascua.  It was evident from the beginning that Spain wanted to run and this they did very well, causing the Fijians problems with their full court fast break time and time again. 


In the 1st quarter the Spanish veteran swing player, Valdermoro, scored with ease to finish with 15 points and with their big centre Pascua pulling down 4 rebounds and Valdermoro with 3, the Spaniards out rebounded Fiji by 14 to 5 for the quarter.   For Fiji, Nainima was their main scorer with 8 points. 

The second quarter started out much as for the first, however in the latter part of this quarter the Fijians seemed to start to fit into the game much better and their aggressive defence caused several missed shots by the Spanish outfit.  In this quarter big Spanish forward, Alba Torrens (192 cms) caused Fiji all sorts of problems scoring inside and from the arc, ending up with 12 points.


Fiji came out with more confidence in the 3rd quarter and added 10 points to their tally with better offence and much better defence.  The size difference and the speed of the Spanish team however always meant that they were in total control.   Valdermoro added 8 points to her game tally in this quater and Spanish guard Anna Montanana chipped in with a valuable contribution of 10 points. Nainima added 6 points to her personal score.  Newcomer Lusi Rabanakadavu scored her first ever basket in a women’s basketball game. 

Fiji played better in the final quarter adding 20 points and restricting the Spanish team to 26.  Coach Michael Whippy asked the players at half time to try to restrict Spain to under 60 points in the second half (Spain scored 60 in the first half) and to their credit the players did just this.


For Spain none was better than their captain Valdermoro (24 points) and she was ably assisted in the scoring department by Motanana (14), Torrens (16) and big forward, Cindy Lima ended in a flourish to score 17 points. 


Spain’s scoring percentage of 58% from the field and 67% at the free throw line against Fiji’s 31% and 50% plus their dominance on the boards (50 rebounds to 24) showed the difference in the standard and size of the teams.  Spain had 16 turnovers to Fiji’s 35 and 18 steals to Fiji 7.  Also showing their dominance inside with height and size was Spain’s 74 points scored in the lane against Fiji’s 16.  Spain’s biggest scoring run was 25 – 0 (67 – 12) while Fiji had a 7 – 0 run at the score of 89 – 29.


For Fiji, Nainima was the leading scorer with 23 points and was assisted by Letava Whippy with 7, Robanakadavu with 4, Mikaelar Whippy 3 and Ofa Moce with 3.


Of the Fijan contingent none tried harder than Nainima (37.17 minutes) and Mikaerlar Whippy (34.44 minutes) and newcomer Matila Waqandrola (30.48 minutes) had a big game working against much taller opponents.  Coach Whippy gave all players some court time and all contributed.


Now Fiji tries to regroup to prepare for another onslaught tomorrow against the World ranked number 4 team Brazil.

Scores by quarter:
                                 1st quarter        2nd quarter       3rd quarter        4th quarter        Final
Spain                           33                    27                    27                    26                    113     

Fiji                               9                      3                      10                    20                    42




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