The Canaries’ two big basketball sides have suffered mixed fortunes in the first week of the playoffs in the ACB league.
La Laguna Tenerife dispatched Joventut de Badalona swiftly by winning the second leg of their quarter final (60-80) last night in Catalonia to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the best of three series, having already won in the Santiago Martín Arena two nights previously. The win is all the more meritorious as the side had to play without injured playmaker Marcelinho Huertas, the league’s MVP, who netted a career-high 39 points in the first game.
The Tenerife side finished third in the regular season, having been pipped on the last day by Valencia, who are now their rivals in the semi-finals after they put paid to the playoff hopes of the Canaries’ other topflight side, Dreamland Gran Canaria.
Having lost at Valencia at the weekend on Monday, the Las Palmas outfit needed to win last night at home to level the series but went down by eight points (94-102) in a thrilling game that went to overtime.
La Laguna Tenereife’s best of five semi-final against Valencia gets under way on Tuesday 10 June with two games in Valencia’s La Fonteta Stadium before moving to La Laguna, where the third and, if needed, fourth game will be played.
Having finished below Valencia in the regular season, the Tenerife side will need to travel back to the east coast of Spain again for the deciding fifth game if the two are level at 2-2 after the fourth.
Whatever the outcome, reaching the semifinals of the world’s second toughest league is in itself a massive achievement for a club that has cemented its position even further among Spain’s elite, despite operating on a much lower budget.
In particular, the club’s ability to identify and attract experienced players such as Brazil’s Huertas and Georgian international Giorgi Shermadini – both of whom have enjoyed a spectacular new lease of life since moving to Tenerife several years ago – has become the envy of other sides in the ACB.
Photo: CB Canarias
