Monday, November 18, 2024, 11:07 p.m.
They are going more. Erkiaga and Ibarluzea are trading higher in the Winter Series of Gernika top basket. In their second match of the quarterfinals they played an impeccable duel this Monday to beat Olharan and Zabala and have a foot and a half in the semifinals. With this defeat their rivals are practically out of the next phase and already depend on other results. And they didn’t play badly. But those who wore pink uncovered the bottle of essence to get a 2-0 and continue with an immaculate trajectory in the championship. Ispaster’s magician was almost intractable, but his defender could hardly be given a but. He missed two balls in the entire match, covered gaps and did more damage with his backhand than Zabala. Those in white had all the pressure due to the weight of the previous defeat and they did not wrinkle either, but they are up against a rock and a hard place because few combinations today can face such a version of Erkiaga and Ibarluzea.
They proved to work like a perfectly oiled Swiss watch. Ispaster’s side was a scoring machine. Of all colors. By wall, two walls and behind. Concentration allowed his teammate to always be in his place and he also returned some very worthwhile rebounds.
As a result, the first set was rolled for the winners. Erkiaga began his particular show early, shortly after the defenders measured their strength and, like the reverse players that they are, played to see who could find the opponent’s right first. Ibarluzea did it and his striker took advantage of the opportunity. Everything he tried worked out except for a side to two walls from box eight that missed him by millimeters.
With the pinks in such a state, Olharan and Zabala did not have much room for maneuver. They found themselves with an 8-4 in just 66 shots after the man from Ispaster put an unanswered ball on the rebound in the second return of the serve that caught the man from Pau.
Released
They were launched and continued the same. They covered all the holes for their opponents and put the game back on track (12-9).
In the second it was news that Erkiaga showed signs that he is human and three shots escaped him, which facilitated the tie at five on the scoreboard. But it was a stumble from which he recovered very quickly and, as his teammate was still a wall behind, they took off to 10-6. Olharan and Zabala were in water up to their necks, but they refloated and the nearly 1,800 spectators who once again filled the stands were grateful. The Frenchman came to a boil because he had no other choice and the match experienced its most intense phase with the open-ended striker signing so many spectacular goals both in its preparation and in its completion. However, it was short-lived. Zabala chose the worst moment for a couple of balls that had a lot of weight in the defeat.
