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The expert and clairvoyant direction of Laia Palau y Chelsea Gray led this Sunday to Spar Girona to triumph before a fighter but imprecise Valencia Basket (72-62) and his first Queen’s Cup title, thus breaking the curse that haunted him after having lost the last four finals of the tournament.
In an imprecise start on both sides, Valencia’s sticky defense and quick exits gave it dominance against a thick Girona, who also temporarily lost Sonia Vasic due to a chin gap after a fall.
But the errors in the completion of Marie Gülich and Laura Gil They prevented Rubén Burgos’ team from squeezing that momentum and a couple of triples, one from Frida Eldebrink and another from Laiaa Palau, set off a 14-0 run that turned the scoreboard and the sensations (16-8, m.8)
Seeing his rival blocked, Alfred Julbe joined Palau and Chelsea Gray who fed the effective Adaora Elonu but Valencia managed to get out of the loop with the tranquility of Anna Gómez and above all with three actions by Rebecca Allen.
That reaction did not alter the Catalan dominance which, with Gray at the helm and Vasic recovered, brought his income back to ten points. It was the unexpected appearance of the Lithuanian forward Laura Juskaite, with her defense over the Serbian, her rebounds and her ability to force and score seven free throws in a row that made the match equal to the break (34-31, m.20) .
The two teams returned from the locker room freed from their last nerves. The daring Queralt Casas pulled from Valencia but Gray with his threat and his vision kept Girona up, helped by the triples of María Araujo and the good work under the rings of Julia Resingerovà (54-47, m.27).
The Catalan team entered the last quarter with a six-point advantage, with Palau having taken the helm of the shock but, above all, having opened the defense of his rival. And in those parameters the crash was maintained for a few more minutes (66-60, m.34).
Al Valencia entered him in a hurry and lost his calm and although then, the Fonteta, with its meager capacity of 150 completed, began to press, Gray was already back on the track to tie the victory against a hasty rival who could not force a tight finish.
Datasheet:
72.- Spar Girona (18 + 16 + 25 + 13): Palau (9), Eldebrink (6), Vasic (11), Araujo (10), Resingerova (13) -starting five- Elonu (8), Labuckiene (2), Gray (10) and Ferrari (3).
62.- Valencia Basket (12+19+22+9): Ouviña (5), Casas (8), Allen (10), Gil (6), Gülich (9) -five starters- Gómez (5), Romero (4), Juskaite (7), Carrera (4) and Trahan -Davis (4).
Referees: López Herrada, Lema and Sánchez González. Without eliminated.
Incidents: final of the Queen’s Cup played in the pavilion of the Fuente de San Luis in a capacity reduced to 150 spectators due to sanitary restrictions that was completed.
The crash was attended, among others, by Irene Lozano, Secretary of State for Sports, Gloria Calero, Government Delegate in the Valencian Community and Mónica Oltra, Vice President of the Generalitat.
Before the start of the meeting, all the protagonists of the center and those responsible for the Spanish Federation and the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation joined the celebration of Working Women’s Day posing behind a banner with the slogan ‘Equality trains every day’.
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