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.
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
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 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’s scoring percentage of 58% from the field and 67% at the free throw line against
For
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
Scores by quarter:
1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Final
Spain 33 27 27 26 113
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