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Game 2: Valentia @ Albinea

Albinea has had an up and down few weeks. They’ve had some marquee wins, followed by absolute duds. Before this game, they beat down a Sreng team they had just lost to, and this game promised to be just as intense from the beginning:



Both teams were giving it 100%. After all, playoff positioning is on the line for both teams, with Valentia and Albinea hoping to avoid 1st round matchups with Enbarr and Leicester respectively, and games like this can go a long way in determining where you sit.

But this led to both teams playing really sloppy basketball through the whole game:



Albinea cruised early, pulling out a 7-0 lead on the back of Kipper:



And some very solid defense:



But halfway through the quarter, it became obvious that this was going to be a matchup between two very different players: Rimmy Tim and Alm.



Alm, who has been, quite frankly, mediocre at best this season, was getting early separation from his defenders, and Valentia, very smartly, was getting the fastest Albinean player as far away from their red-hot shooting guard as possible:



To their credit, Albinea kept trying new rotations, trying to see if they could either slow down the pace or at least keep up with Alm:



But when they managed to slow down the pace, Celica came in to continue her solid season:




(I think I showed most of the scoring in the 1st quarter, because the quarter would end with Albinea up, 18-19).

The 2nd quarter started with a huge run from Valentia, mostly brought on by Albinea trying to double Alm:




A 12-4 run put them up 30-23, and Albinea looked stunned. After a timeout, one player came out and started to rule the court. Yes, it was Tim Time:




14 points and 2 assists eventually got Albinea back in the lead, 40-41, before Alm nailed his 4th 3 to give Valentia the lead for the half:



The final minute or so was just… really sloppy. Just bad.

Valentia would lead going into halftime, 43-41.

The 3rd quarter featured some of the best and worst from Albinea. They started on a huge run prompted by strong offense and stronger defense:







However, they also turned the ball over 7 times in this quarter, which led to 12 points for Valentia:



The 3rd quarter would end with Valentia still up by 2, 74-72.

The sloppy play would continue as both the Royals and Seahawks failed to keep hold of the ball for almost 40% of their possessions:



Rimmy Tim would score 8 more points:



But Celica and Alm would combine for 3 more 3 pointers:



And would keep hold of a tenuous lead.

Valentia beats Albinea, 93-86.