Disappointment for the young BLMA players, beaten in the U18 final of the Coupe de France by Mondeville

The BLMA players and staff were unable to thwart a Mondeville team which has won four titles in the last five editions.

In the early morning, inside the Accor Arena in Paris, the U18 women's final kicked off a day of Coupe de France finals with the opposing BLMA in Mondeville, already seven times winner of the trophy, who added an eighth with a score of 61-55. Among the pros, Bourges beat Basket Landes, 76-63.

The Héraultaises had their heads down, bruised by this regular defeat against Mondeville, who won their 8th French Cup. They never managed to be ahead in the score and they spent most of their time hanging on to the Norman coattails: "C& rsquo;It’s especially our content that leaves us with a lot of regrets. We wanted to do so well that we weren't able to offer our basketball. We didn’show our true playing identity", asserted fatalistically the coach Damien Leroux.
As expected, this final, which seemed indecisive, kept all its promises and delivered a rather coherent verdict considering the domination of the Mondevillaises over the whole.
Launching this day of the French Cup final at "dawn" (kick-off at 9 a.m.), the two teams initially had difficulty finding their bearings within the confines of the Accor Arena.
Then, little by little, the USOM took control according to the outbursts of the Ricco-Mayele duo (37 points between them) to never let the Montpellier women control the operations (13-7, 4th  ; 22 -20, 13th).
Mixing speed and haste with a trifle of twenty-two lost bullets, the BLMA only managed in sequences to dampen the morale of the Normans (38-30, 22nd). Constantly yo-yoing, the Gazelles were fast approaching Mondeville, even within one possession of being able to turn the tide (42-38, 30th  ; 49-46, 36th).
Except that when the ascendant changed sides, the BLMA procrastinated, definitively giving up (53-46, 37th; 60-51, 39th).

Objective: the Final Four U18

Anouk Brun’s 15 points were not enough to mask his weaknesses in rebounding (54 against 36 rebounds at BLMA), limited turnover and his ineffectiveness at long distance (4/17 at 3 points).
Lattes-Montpellier will not have time to think too much about this final since its place in the Final Four of the championship will be decided next Sunday in Isère, where the Héraultaises, first in their group, will have to win or lose by less than 10 points in “final” against the Voironnais country.

Technical sheet

Mondeville beats BLMA, 61-55

À Paris, Accor Arena.
Referees: MM. Klai and Conan.
Spectators: approximately 2,000.
Quarter time: 17-20, 11-11, 10-11, 17-19
LATTES-MONTPELLIER : Tagayi (9 points), Traoré (3), A. Keita (7), Brun (16), Michel (6) then Kavoka (9), Favreau (4), F. Keita (1).
Ent.: Damien Leroux.
MONDEVILLE : Nadolny (2), Ricco (19), Mayele (18), Gentien (6), Diawara (2) then Odin (6), Le Lann (4), Keboum-Biamou (4).
Ent.: Axel Joly.