Biella Next remembers Gabriele Fioretti and returns to success

It was not an evening like any other that the Biella basketball fans experienced on Saturday 23 November at the Pala Pajetta. And not only for the 90-61 victory of Albatros Biella Next against Venegono, pure oxygen for a ranking that does not reflect the flashes of good play expressed so far by coach Nicola Danna’s team.

An evening that began with the moving memory dedicated by fans and the rossoblu club to Gabriele Fioretti, the unforgettable general manager of Pallacanestro Biella who passed away on 29 November 2014, when he was 39 years old. Fioretti spent seven seasons in the rossoblu, starting as the club’s communications manager and then growing step by step, gaining credibility and trust thanks to a passion and knowledge of basketball with few equals on the national level. So he first became an all-round team manager and then general manager, building together with coach Fabio Corbani that wonderful team that in 2014 won the Serie A2 Italian Cup in Rimini, the first historic trophy in the life of the wool club. On Saturday at Pajetta, together with his family, there were also coach Corbani and Tommaso Raspino, captain of that magical Biella.

Coach Nicola Danna proposes a new starting lineup, with Sartore preferred to Rossi. The start is immediately red-blue: after 4 minutes Biella runs away with a 16-3 lead thanks to 8 points from Squizzato and 5 from Cena. The first quarter ends at 27-11, with Venegono unable to react to the offensive gusts of captain Aimone and his teammates. Albatros’s only missed pass in the first half of the second quarter, with the guests getting within 9 at 31-22. Biella overcomes the bad moment and closes the practice already halfway through the third period, with two more triples from Cena that give the score 58-34. The rossoblu also reached +37, maximum advantage at 88-51 with a basket from Aimone and closed the match with five players in double figures. The best is Lorenzo Squizzato with 21 points.

Albatros Biella Next-Venegono 90-61 (27-11, 43-27, 66-43). Albatros Biella Next. Sartore 6, Cena 11, Aimone 13, Squizzato 21, Doneda 8, Rossi 11, Carlino 4, Badiane 2, Dalla Mora, Bamba 14. Coach Danna.