CSKA junior team is in final

The CSKA Moscow junior team earned a trip to the final on Saturday after destroying Hapoel Jerusalem in the early game on Friday morning:

CSKA vs Hapoel Ierusalem: 80-49

On Thursday, CSKA made a statement by knocking off defending champ Zalgiris and on Friday it flexed its muscles with a dominating performance. CSKA’s big men overpowered the undersized Hapoel Jerusalem juniors, as center Nikita Kourbanov set the tone early on with 7 points and 6 rebounds in the opening minutes and his teammates dominated the rebounding war, 40-27. Hapoel took the lead early and stayed close throughout the first half, as it was effective penetrating the gaps in the CSKA zone. Things changed in the second half, however, as Hapoel’s lack of size and inability to make three-pointers spelled trouble for the Jerusalem club.

CSKA went ahead 17-12 at the end of the first quarter and built a 33-27 advantage at halftime. CSKA opened its biggest lead in the third quarter, 53-35, as Zovoruev and Likhodev knocked down four triples in a two minute span. The third quarter ended with the score 59-40 and the fourth quarter was again dominated by CSKA as Hapoel couldn’t find find a way to limit Shabalkin around the basket. CSKA’s win punctuated by a spectacular windmill slam by forward Igor Kashirov with one minute remaining and CSKA ahead 77-46.


CSKA forward Valery Likhodey:

- At halftime our coach shouted at us in the locker room. He was not satisfied with our effort and concentration in the first half. He wanted us to play much better in the second half, especially on defense. This was the difference in the game. We changed in the second half and won because of our defense. Our strength is our defense and team play. We try to help each other and look for the open player. That’s what we do well. We have a lot of good players. We must continue to play like we did in the second half tomorrow in the final. I am looking forward to it. There are many good teams here and we’ll see who our opponent is today.

CSKA power forward Nikita Shabalkin:

- Their guys were a lot smaller, but in the first half they were close to us. Yesterday’s game against Zalgiris was so hard and we didn’t have the right concentration early in the game. In the first half we didn’t have a good start, but the second half we were better. The first half was only a problem of concentration. We knew that we had an advantage with our size and their only chance was with three-pointers. We played better defense in the second half and that was the difference in the game... We have a strong team because we have good players at every position. Last year we played in the junior tournament in Barcelona and we had a great center, but we didn’t have success. This year we have good players at all the other positions. A good point guard, good shooters and we’re all friends. We have to have the right concentration in the final, but it will not be easy. This is the first time I have seen these teams and they look strong.