Unfortunate Men's Team in front of Algés

It was in Coimbra, in front of Olivais, that the women's team of the CAB began their journey in the playoffs of the present edition of the Women's League. Although the continentals are a team that the Friends know well, as they have faced them twice this time, the last of which with advantage to the CAB, the Madeirans knew that they expected a game totally different from the last. Alías, this had been the finding of Carolina Escortius, who, in the preview he made of the match for the CAB Official Site, had said that the game would require the best of the team, either at delivery level or at intensity level. The CAB got in pretty good. Showing clearly that they are 'a team on mission', the Amigas bet on a pressing and aggressive defense, which proved to be able to stop the main weapons of the opponents and give the CAB most of the possession of the ball. From the defense, the Friends built their game, alternating fast defense-attack transitions with organized attacks and in which the Madeirans were able to make a proper and solid launch selection. Little by little, the CAB team was able to build an interesting advantage in the scorer, which is largely due to the merit of those commended by João Pedro Vieira, because, on the other hand, they had a team that, besides being very well trained, is filled with good national players, whose sports action is very well complemented by foreign athletes of value. However, at the break, the CAB was being superior, reaching the middle of the game to win by the result of 27-43. On the return of the resorts, the formation of the Olivais showed great determination and commitment to turn the outcome around. The continental team, with merit, explored some deconcentrations that the Friends demonstrated, especially in the defensive chapter, and annulled some of the advantage that the CAB had built in the first part of the meeting. The approach of the continentals did not frighten the wood basketball players, who responded with greater concentration, commitment and much respect for the opponents. Without ever giving the match for the winner, the CAB players showed great personality and surrendered to the match until the last minute. Thanks to this attitude, the final horn arrived with the marker in 63-78, in favor of the CAB. In individual terms: Catarina Freitas, Ana Jardim, Carla Freitas (13 points), Carla Relva, Taj McWilliams (8 points), Marta Bravo (5 points), Maria João (26 points, MVP of the match), Schera Sampson (16 points), Carolina Escorcio (10 points). Today's victory gives the CAB team the 1-0 advantage in the series against Olivais, which are played to the best of three games, and passes to the Women's League half-final the formation that first achieves two wins. The second and third games (if necessary) will be played in Funchal, but they still have no date due to some difficulty that is being felt by the leaders of Olivais in scheduling trips to Madeira. On the same day as the women's team began their walk in the playoffs, the boys from the CAB went to Lisbon to confront Algés, a motivated team with clear aspirations in this edition of the Men's League. The game faced great difficulty for the CAB, not only for the quality of the opponent, but also for being the second game in two days for the men of Madeira, who, on Saturday, had received and won the formation of Galitos. The CAB did not enter the match in the best way, accusing some deconcentration and physical wear. Algés was superior in the first half, which won by 24-18. In the second period, the CAB was much better, not only in defense, but also in attack. The Friends got a lot of ball robberies and were more aggressive in the fight for the jumps. On the opposite side of the field, the CAB proved to be better at selecting the launches and more effective at marking points. However, João Freitas' team continued to be very irregular, and as a result, the interval arrived with the marker in 44-40, favorable to the men of the house. In the third period, the CAB was no better than in the first part of the meeting. Although, sporadically, the Madeirans carried out good attacks and gave indications that they wanted to play the match, the merit and commitment of the Algés blocked the paths of the Friends to the basket and frustrated their chances to dominate the game. At the end of the third half, the marker recorded 68-53, in favour of Lisbon. In the fourth and final half, CAB players went 'everything' to turn the marker around. The Madeiran team saw a truly heroic delivery to the meeting and a sincere and extremely professional effort to return to the island with the victory in the luggage. The 'our boys' risked everything and sacrificed immensely in defense of their shirt, once again being an example for the whole club. However, this afternoon it was Algés, who precisely led to the failure of the CAB formation by 85-75.