U18 European Championship Women Division B
Youth International Basketball in Eilat



 Germany U18 at opening ceremony © WomensBasketball-in-france.com

The U18 European Championship Women is the highlight of the youth international basketball season for all the players.

The first day of the Division B European Championship finished with no major upsets with most of the more experienced teams winning their games.

In Group A Hungary, hampered by early foul problems, did just enough to beat Romania (55-50).

However in Group B Slovenia was pushed all the way by Portugal before coming out on top (70-66). Finland were forced to work hard as they came from behind to beat Switzerland (56-48).

Switzerland went into the final period leading by 7 points but scored just once in the whole of the last quarter.

U18 youth international basketball 2009 audio after match comments of Bosnia, Norway and Greece will be found after the corresponding match report.

You can read more about the games from Groups C and D by clicking on the following links or scrolling down the page:

Bosnia and Herzegovina 68-45 Norway

Israel 65-55 Denmark

Germany 59-46 Netherlands

Greece 53-42 Croatia


 Bosnia start well © WomensBasketball-in-france.com
Bosnia open youth international basketball festival with a win against Norway

The first 30 seconds of the match will be quickly forgotten by both teams as they were turning the ball over and over again. After the initial nerves both sides started to play basketball. However we had to wait two minutes for the first points of the game which came from Jorunn Matthiessen from the free-throw line.  Matea Tavic is back again at a youth international basketball tournament  © WomensBasketball-in-france.comIt took almost another three minutes before Matea Tavic (right) from Bosnia and Herzegovina got going. But once she did, she scored 6 quick points and dished out 1 assist as Bosnia outscored their opponents (12-2) to lead (12-4) after five minutes of play. Norway did not have any answer for Tavic but switched to zone after a time-out from their coach Stoller Baard. They slowed down the Bosnian attack. Bosnia controlled the pace but the shot of the first quarter came from Maren Austgulen who connected with a shot from beyond the arc. Bosnia led (16-8) by the end of the first period. The second quarter was played at a much slower pace. Norway had put a system in place to stop Tavic. With Edda Ulset finding the basket Norway managed to stay in the game.  Norway players looking on from the bench  © WomensBasketball-in-france.comYet Bosnia kept their advantage with the good work of Anesa Hamsic and Amna Fazlic in the paint as they maintained control of the game (26-14). Bosnia took advantage of foul problems for Matthissen (3 fouls) from Norway to finish the first half with a flourish to go ahead (36-18) at the interval. Bosnia lost their way offensively as they struggled with the Norwegian defense. In addition Ulset and Hega Blikra's work off the ball and their unselfish play allowed them to outscore their opponents (7-3) which forced Baigoric Behudin from Bosnia to call a time-out. Norway brought their deficit down to 10 points (29-39) before Behudin made some tactical changes. This involved taking Tavic out of the game. Tamara Kapor stepped up for Bosnia as they finished with a flourish to go into the final period leading (49-29). Bosnia controlled the pace of the final period with Natasa Kajtaz and Irma Rahmanovic doing most of the offensive damage while Norway reverted to long range shooting. They were rewarded for their efforts as Ingvild Skorpen fired in a shot from beyond the arc. Bosnia's experience came through at the end as they won the match (68-45).

Youth International Basketball Box Scores Box Scores.

U18 youth international basketball 2009 audio after match comments Behidin Bajgoric, the head coach from Bosnia and Herzegovina, spoke at the press conference after the first match and Anesi Hamsic helped with the translation. He was impressed by the facilities at this youth international basketball event and praised the organisers for everything. He explained that first games are always difficult and that they had no idea of their opponents' style of play but they managed to keep to the game plan although nothing was known about Denmark. The game for them was over by half time which gave them the opportunity to turn the bench and give everybody a chance to play. He went on to explain that they had room for improvement and that the long shots did not go in. It was not really an issue for this game as it was not possible to display everything in one game.



 Hege Blikraand Stoller Baard  © WomensBasketball-in-france.com

Hege Blikra (left in picture) ran her heart out in the first game and was hoping that in future games during the international youth basketball competition they would have better luck and the ball would drop more often.


Stolla Beard (above in picture), the Norwegian head coach, explained that they were an unknown factor at this level of youth international basketball and opponents. They did not know much about them but at the same time it was also new for his players.

He added because the team was small and unknown, teams tended to put extra pressure on his players to see how they would react.

In the second part of the interview he went into detail about his thoughts on the loss but remained positive about his team's performance and expected to do better in future games.

He also mentioned that adjustments would be required due to the officials not calling certain calls especially the 3-second rule.


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 All smiles for Greece © Israel Basketball Federation

Israel survive tough test against Denmark

The match had an explosive start to the fame with Denmark scoring with less than three seconds on the game clock with Anne Pedersen.

Israel only had to wait 17 seconds for Shira Shecht to score as she forced her way into the paint to score and draw the foul.

The two teams were playing at fast pace and were very physical from the tip-off.

 Avigiel Cohen  © WomensBasketball-in-france.comMost of the scoring came from the free-throw line. However Avigiel Cohen from Israel was able to score from outside for Israel to lead (11-7) with almost five minutes played.

Pedersen from Denmark started to cause Israel problems and she tied the game (11-11) from the land of many.

Israel struggled with the pace and physical style of Denmark and committed too many fouls. They fell behind as Denmark went 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.

Israel committed further fouls a (11 in total). Both teams continued to play cat and mouse for the remaining of the quarter with Denmark coming out on top (19-17).

 Ida Krogh © WomensBasketball-in-france.comIt was a dramatic start for the second period with Denmark losing Ida Krogh (left) after she slipped and and hurt her ankle within five seconds.

Cohen then led the Israeli charge as she tied the game (19-19). Israel dominated the game for a couple of minutes and led (27-24) after 13 minutes of play.

Denmark struggled to find their rhythm and were caught sleeping defensively twice by Hadar Gutin who remained cool at the free-throw line as Israel began to take control of the game.

Denmark's problems continued as intentional fouls were called against Emma Block-Frederiksen and Alberte Dokkedal during a hectic spell.

However Denmark were saved when the game was stopped for four minutes due to problems with the scoreboard. Israel were then leading (34-28).

Krogh returned for Denmark briefly when the play resumed and helped her team in slowing down the scoring of Israel.

Israel went into the interval ahead (43-34) with 16 points coming from Cohen.

Both teams came out playing less aggressively after the break and exchanged baskets regularly as neither team was able to gain the advantage (51-42).

Denmark started to gain the upper hand as they switched to player to player marking system. Also Krogh started to mark her authority with nice runs and good passing as the Israeli lead was reduced (49-53).

Israel hung on to the lead (55-53) going into the final period and were lucky that Cohen's half-court buzzer was allowed as it went in after the buzzer.

The final period was tense with Israel scoring the only points (59-53) from the free-throw line during the first four minutes of the quarter. 	Ginnerup Thomas from Denmark giving instructions © WomensBasketball-in-france.com

Israel made sure that Pederson was not allowed time with the ball and kept Denmark scoreless for almost seven minutes while opening up a 10-point lead (63-53).

Cohen was on fire for Israel as they cruised to victory (65-55). 28 points came from Cohen.

Youth International Basketball Box Scores Box Scores.



 Germany time-out against the Netherlands © WomensBasketball-in-france.com

Two minutes in the third quarter was enough for Germany

The matches between Germany and the Netherlands are known for their emotion. However there was not much display in the first 10 minutes.

Germany led (10-0) after five minutes but then went to sleep for the rest of the quarter.

They allowed the Netherlands back into the match and only led (17-12) at the end of the first quarter.

The Netherlands appeared more aggressive at the start of the second period.

Despite the efforts of Zara Butters to fire up her team, the Netherlands took their time with Dewi Kepppij and Amanda van Huenen adding to Buttter's points for them to take the lead for the first time in the match (17-16) with 13 minutes played.

A time-out by the German head coach did not seem to help as Rianne Hofstraat was left free to score and complete a 10-0 run for the Dutch (20-17).

Germany finally got themselves going.

With Svenja Brunckhorst stepping up the two teams went into the interval tied (29-29).

 Time-out Netherlands © WomensBasketball-in-france.comThe pace did not pick up but the game became more emotional with the lead changing hand several times during the first seven minutes of the quarter (37-37).

All of a sudden Germany stepped on the turbo. In less than two minutes they scored 11 unanswered points and went into the final period ahead (50-39).

The last quarter was tough defensively for both teams with Germany holding on to their advantage to win (59-46) with three players in double digits.

Mara Greunke led the way with 14 points while Finja Schaake and Sarah-Marie Frankenberger had 13 points each.

Youth International Basketball Box Scores Box Scores.


 All smiles for Greece © WomensBasketball-in-france.com

Greece are happy with the win against Croatia

Greece got into their game quickly and led (4-0) with less than 50 seconds on the game clock. Greece had trouble in stopping Nina Premasunac who scored all her side's points in the first four minutes with the teams tied (8-8). Greece, playing more collectively and with Premasunac on the bench with 3 fouls, regained the lead and edged out Croatia (15-13) at the end of the first period.  Georgious-Velissarkos giving instructions at time-out © WomensBasketball-in-france.com Angeliki Nikolopoulou (right) from Greece started to run the show during the second period as Greece managed to control the pace of the game. They opened up the biggest lead of the game (26-20). Petra Stankovic from Croatia was causing Greece problems with outside shooting. On the other hand Ivana Zubak hit her second trey of the game as Croatia reduced their deficit to 2 points. However Greece have a fast transition game which gave Efstathia-Zafeira Gkritza all the time required to score back to back baskets as her side finished with a flourish to go into the interval leading (34-28). The third period was a defensive battle with only 5 points between the two teams in the first five minutes. Croatia's defense was energy snapping and they tired. Greece took advantage with Maria Karaveli, Nikolopoulou and Zafeira Giampani scoring for Greece to go 10 points clear (41-32). Croatia finished the quarter stronger. With Premasunac back in action the deficit was reduced slightly (36-43) going into the final period. Greece were never in difficulty during the last quarter and led by as many as 13 points (51-38) with less than four minutes to play as Croatia ran out of ideas. The game fizzled out with Greece winning (53-42) and Nikolopoulou scoring 22 points.

Youth International Basketball Box Scores Box Scores.

U18 youth international basketball 2009 audio after match comments Angeliki Nikolopoulou top scored in the match and also spoke about the first match at the youth international basketball competition in Eilat. She explained that it was a team performance and that it was a hard game for everybody but everybody remained focused and the objective was reached which was the victory.


Georgious Velissarakos spoke in Greek and explained that the objective was to win some matches and after only 8 days training programme for this youth international basketball event they were satisfied with the result.

He explained that his tactic was to try different things during the game to surprise the opponents.


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More Youth International Basketball News

U18 European Championship Women Division B 2009 is hosted by Israel

Return to "What's New" page from youth international basketball news from Elilat

Return to the Youth International Basketball Index page

Youth International Basketball Picture credits:

womensbasketball-in-france.com

Israeli basketball Federation

Date created: 03 July 2009


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