Georgian under 16 national basketball team won 7 out of 8 matches during the Division B European Championship, however, it was only enough for the fifth place. To remind you, Gia Kazanjyan team suffered an only defeat from the Netherlands which was enough not to qualify for the semifinals. Afterwards our team won another two matches in Tallinn that recorded the final outcome of the tournament for us – 5th place.
After losing against the Netherlands, Georgians managed to defeat Switzerland 75:65 (20:16, 16:19, 15:15, 24:10). Giga Kazanjyan wards were in control almost throughout the game time but they couldn’t establish a splendor lead until the last quarter. The reason for that was Swiss player Clint N’Dumba-Capella, who scored 27 points along with 24 (!) rebounds. Despite the effort of N’Dumba, Georgians beat the opponent due to a great team play produced. At the start of the fourth quarter Gia Kazanjyan fellows were ahead by only one point. Our team overcame the opponent by 14 points in the decisive quarter which was more than enough for the victory. Notable players in Georgian team were Irakli Mikeladze and Beka Burjanadze, with Irakli scoring 18 points and making 6 assists while Beka gathering 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Hungary was Georgian youngsters’ opponent in a game for the fifth place. Georgia beat Hungary earlier in the tournament by a 27 point margin – 83:56. This time our opponents played relatively well; moreover they were in the lead after the break 46:39. Unfortunately for them Georgia managed to reduce the deficit and organize a breakthrough, which resulted in a 76:71 (22:22, 24:17, 10:14, 15:23) victory for them. Burjanadze once again was in a center of spectrum with 29 points and 14 rebounds. His teammate George Cirekidze made a double-double scoring 10 points and gathering same amount of rebounds. Irakli Mikeladze scored 14 and assisted 3 in that match. His game average throughout the tournament was 5.1 assists which appeared to be the highest number among the other young basketball players in this component.
Note, that Czech Republic is crowned as the winners of Division B after they beat Ukrainian side 61:53 in the final. Both of these teams will play in Division A next year.
