His little ones Olympiakou “dethroned” his counterparts Panathinaikou in the Junior Championship!
Putting on a stunning and dominating performance for more than 35 minutes, the “red and whites” crushed the “greens” in the grand finale of the Final 8 held in Arta with impressive 75-45, winning the 4th Junior Championship in their history!
Absolute protagonist for the winners was Stefanos Spartalis, with the young center from Piraeus finishing the match with 28 points (12/14d., 4/8b.), 15 rebounds (7 offensive) and a steal, collecting 36 points in the evaluation system! Important solutions for the team of Giorgos Pantelakis were given by Benjamin Ambosi with 12 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and the same number of steals!
For Panathinaikos, who fought only in the first quarter, he was saved Evangelos Adamopoulos, who finished the game with 17 points (4/9 sq.) and 4 rebounds.
The match:
The start of the derby was quite balanced, with Panathinaikos to have the upper hand in the score keeping small differences. By Evangelos Adamopoulos scoring the first 7 points, the “greens” led 7-5 in the 6th minute, while a little later, five collected points by Zervos increased the difference at +7 (5-12). But somewhere there, Olympic got a reaction and thanks to his very good defense, he managed and went on a partial 8-0 run in the last three minutes, closing the first period with short head (13-12);
By Stefanos Spartalis to enter the match equation and dominate under the two baskets, the “red and white” quickly built a double-digit difference, reaching at +10 (22-12) at 12′, thanks to an unanswered 9-0 run. The hard and “suffocating” defense of Piraeus had completely disorganized the “greens”, who remained very low in the score, making many and accumulated mistakes. It is indicative that until the 16th minute, the hosts typically had run one impressive individual score of 18-2, pushing the lead to +17 for 31-14! Despite the baskets by Golada and Athanasopoulos, Spartalis with three consecutive two-pointers towards the final, sent the two teams to the locker room with the impressive 39-20 in favor of Olympiakos!
The third quarter started with Panathinaikos finding a three-pointer with Georges and Amposis answering the “caps” in the same way for 42-34 at 22′. Then the “greens” gnawed the difference thanks to three three-pointers by Adamopoulos (!), reducing to 12 and at 46-34 in the 26th minute! However, with five personal points by Spartalis, Olympiacos increased the difference again, even managing to maintain it at high levels, closing the quarter at +16 and 52-36.
Somehow, h fourth and final period became procedural, as the “red and white” dominated the… airwaves, thanks to the improbable Spartan and the Obstruction. It is indicative that the two of them, together with him Surethey went on a quick 10-0 run, resulting in Giorgos Pantelakis’ team reaching at +26 (62-36) at 34′! The disappointment on the part of Panathinaikos was more than obvious, with the “clover” not being able to collect the difference in the remaining time, which increased even more, with Olympiakos celebrating the victory and the title of champion in the final with the final 75-45!
The quarters: 13-12, 39-20, 52-36, 75-45.
See here the statistics of the match.
The Junior Champions:
1969 Sporting
1970 KHANTH
1971 Khanth
1977 Ionian N.
1978 Byzantine
1979 Mars
1980 Proteas
1981 PAOK
1982 Nestor
1983 Pagrati
1984 Panionios
1985 Panhellenic
1986 Pigeon
1987 Panionios
1988 Piraeus
1989 Mars
1990 PAOK
1991 AOK Ikari
1992 AS Apollon
1993 Panionios
1994 PAOK
1995 Hercules
1996 ICBS
1997 Pigeon
1998 Hercules
1999 Lightning of Larisa
2000 JSC Chalkida
2001 Apollonia
2002 PAOK
2003 AEK
2004 Panionios
2005 Mantoulidis
2006 Esperos
2007 Elysiakos
2008 Elysiakos
2009 Mars
2010 Mantoulidis
2011 Mars
2012 Panathinaikos
2013 Mars
2014 Panionios
2015 Panathinaikos
2016 Panathinaikos
2017 Duke
2018 Olympiacos
2019 Olympiacos
2020 Pigeon
2021 Olympiacos
2022 TEN
2023 Panathinaikos
2024 Olympiakos
Source: Sport Fm
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
