He with a hard-fought victory in the final of the Queen’s Cup (70-65) against a rival, Hozono Global Jairis, who had him by the neck after a devastating partial of 0-17 in the first quarter. Rubén Burgos’ players did not lose their calm and, guided by Raquel Carrera, the woman who is always there when her team needs it, they turned the final around to become the first team to repeat the title this decade. Valencia has been able to turn its elimination in the Euroleague into a virtue. Quite the opposite of the two Spanish teams that are in the Final 6, Girona and Zaragoza, who fell like ripe fruit in the quarterfinals and semifinals. It is not easy to combine the Euroleague with the best League in Europe.
The match started with a headwind for the League champion. Jairis dominated the rebound (he took as many triples as his rival) and scored almost everything he threw, with four treble goals from Alba Prieto, fuel to fly in the Palau d’Esports against a mummified Valencia that found no response and suffered the first setback of the final, a partial 0-17 (7-21) in favor of the Alcantarilla team. There were more than 33 minutes left, but it was one of those blows that are accused, the ones that hurt.
Valencia could not allow itself such an insult. He has many pending accounts after poor planning in the summer that has forced him to incorporate three new players with the train moving. They showed the character to press in defense with an atypical quintet, thus reducing Jairis’ success and responding with a 10-0 run (19-24) that recovered the uncertainty of the Queen’s Cup final. Jairis had very studied how to defend the pillars of Valencia, a rival that needed to loosen the burden of its lack of aim in the triples (one of nine).
Bernat Canut needed more toughness and turned to Laura Gil, a crocodile in painting. The woman from Murcia, the gladiator with one of the largest treasures of medals in Europe, is a happy woman struggling in painting, sacrificing herself without showing off for the common good. His entry was a boost for Jairis (26-36). , pulled his team to avoid suffering the second blow before the break. It was not a bad income after a chaotic first half (two of 12 in triples) in which they suffered the punishment of the Sevillian guard Alba Prieto, a giant in the first 20 minutes (16 points, four rebounds and two assists).
somewhat less daring in the back game, continues to be the candle in Valencia’s dark moments. The Galician illuminated the pace of her team until she put them ahead on the scoreboard again (44-38) after many minutes of anguish.
The final took place in its most beautiful and intense moment. Two teams bringing out the best in their game and their pride to embrace the Cup. Ivon Anderson found a vein in the middle distance, Morgan Bertsch, the Californian from Santa Rosa, raised the bar, Elena Buenavida chained together good defensive actions… A great final. The only thing missing was the appearance of Khaalia Hillsman, chained throughout the game by the great Murcian defense, but who freed herself to show the public that she is a tank that, when she goes towards the basket, does not take hostages. Little by little, play by play, Burgos’ pieces fell into place and Valencia reached its maximum advantage (58-47). Canut needed the Belgian Billie Massey to balance the fight in the paint. But no one could beat Hillsman anymore, a force of nature that took control in both baskets to leave the champion on the brink of the abyss well into the last quarter (62-50). Valencia had it and did not let it escape.
