The Spanish U17 team will be in the next 3×3 European Championship held in Heraklion from September 22 to 24. It has not been an easy road. It began with a demanding pre-selection that included two players from the UE Mataró Junior Report, Eduard Coll and David Boschdemont. Finally, Michael Enabulele, Alexandre Huguet, Gerard Villarejo and Coll himself were the youngsters selected to get the ticket to Greece.
In the French town of Voiron, the boys in charge of Raúl Fernández got a pass to the great European competition without being defeated last weekend. Full in a group phase where they beat Ukraine (21-14) and later Israel (19-17) to reach the final phase as group leaders. A victory against Turkey certified the ticket to the European Championship and the Spanish team suffered until the last minute of the match.
1’45” in basketball is a whole world, but a real universe when it comes to 3×3 basketball. Even so, things were expected to be complicated for the Spanish team in the absence of that time. 15-18 down, with possession after a rebound from Villarejo. He quickly found Coll and the man from Matarón nailed a front triple (in 3v3 with a value of 2 points) to start the comeback. 17-18.
Türkiye did not take long to lose the ball in another good action by Coll. Theft and assistance to tie the game with still 1’30” ahead. This time yes, the play worked for Turkey and they got within a basket of victory. 18-19. With Coll inspired, the teammates were looking for him, but his next two outside pitches did not go in. They were able to grab both rebounds and Villarejo tied the game at 19 with a great effort in the zone.
The next team to score from beyond the arc would be in Heraklion. Ball for the Turkish players who didn’t know yet, but the match would be over in a 6 second interval. Türkiye tried it from more than 8 meters, it did not enter. Villarejo’s new rebound that finds Coll alone in a copy of the play that started the comeback. The triple re-enters. 21-19, the game is over. Spain will be in the European U17 3×3 basketball tournament and Eduard Coll has had a lot to do with making this happen.
“I saw the game as complicated, especially with the minus 3. Many things go through your head, the opportunity to go to the European Championship is missing. The only thing left was paddling and in the end we were able to pull it off. Very happy”. Coll declared how he lived that final minute against Türkiye.
3×3 basketball continues to grow in Spain and the presence of the team on September 22 in Heraklion is great proof of this. This is the most important competition for U17 teams on the continent and it is thanks to clubs like Junior Report UE Mataró, who are committed to training talent in the 3×3 field, that such a milestone is capable of being achieved.
