Brazil Gets Spot In The Olympics After Thriller

Brazil had to wait until the very last minute to see themselves qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

As awaited it was a close game between two teams that knew really well themselves.  Yayma Boulet and Yakelyn Plutín (6 pts in the 1st) were the first to score for Cuba and from then on it all was trading baskets and leads. In the first half the lead changed sides up to three times and the game was tied seven. Abridging the last minutes of the first quarter and the early second Brazil made an 8-0 run (4 pts from Kelly Da Silva) that put the Caribbean 16-23 ahead in the first minute of the second.

Brazil had ruled in the paint in the first grabbing 15 boards for 8 from Cuba but things tied in the second in that sense anyway Brazil managed to keep its advantage until late in the second when the improved Cuban defense made some stops on Brazilians offense. Cuba had missed however two chances to level with 27-29 in the score but they could not make it and, with 2:30 minutes for the break Claudia das Neves gave some fresh air to Brazil scoring from beyond the arc, 27-32. Cuba would left Brazil scoreless for the next two minutes and Yamara Amargo tied the game at 32 and the game went to the interval tied. 34-34, after a put back from Amargo and after missing Kelly Da Silva two freebies with just seconds remaining

After the break the lead just changed sides once. Cuba made a 7-1 run and put in front 41-35 after 3:30 but half a minute later Brazil´s Jucimara Dantas started and capped a 6-0 run that levelled the score again, 45-45, leaving scoreless Cuba during three and a half minutes. Ineidís Casanova, who had just joined the game with 33 seconds remaining in the third scored a jumper for Cuba and the game entered the fourth 47-45 for Cuba, after Jucimara Dantas had missed two from the charity stripe and three offensive rebounds to level the scores once again

Patricia de Oliveira tied the score, 47-47, for Brazil after shortly 30 seconds in the fourth and then the trading began and lasted until the last minute of the game. In that 8:30 minutes leads traded three times and the game was tied in four occasions. Cuba pressed full court after each Brazilian basket with the intention of closing the game as soon as possible and Brazil began missing offenses while Cuba put in front, reaching a highest lead of 5 pts, 61-56, after four minutes

Then was when Cuba begin its struggles in the offensive end, not finding good views nor hitting the shots that they hit few minutes ago, so Brazil started a 9-2 run capped by Kelly Da Silva to put back in front 65-63 with 1:15 remaining leaving Cuba scoreless for almost two minutes. Yakelyn Plutín levelled from the line in the ensuing possession  with 55 seconds remaining and from then the teams only scored from the free throw line. Karla Martins put her team ahead, 65-67, for good scoring the first two free throws from a 7-for-8 series in that 55 seconds while Cuba just went to the line once. Jakelyne Plutín made it 69-67 with 15 seconds remaining. The game finished 72-67 for Brazil which gets the last Olimpic spot

For Brazil Micaela Martins had 22 pts and 7 boards, Karla Martins 11 pts y 7 boards, Kelly Da Silva 10 pts and Jucimara Dantas 9 pts and 9 boards

In Cuba Yakelyn Plutín had 16 pts and 12 rebounds, Yamara Amargo added 17 pts and Yayma Boulet had 14 pts and  8 boards

Yakelyn Plutín (Cuba)

“In basketball you must be very patient and play hard the whole game. The Brazilians scored better in the last minutes and that’s the reason they won,”

Alberto Zabala (Brazil Coach Brasil)

“We lost the game in the second half, when they scored a lot of fastbreak plays”

“It has been a World class game. Brasil is a great team. We were clearly wrong in the last quarter that’s when I think we lost the game,”

Kelly Da Silva (Brasil)

“The players showed a great confidence during the whole game. We’ve been strong enough to overcome all the troubles in the last months,”

“The key has been the union in the group and that each player played her role properly,”

Claudia Das Neves (Brasil)

“We knew it was going to be a really complicated game to win and that it will be evened ‘til the end. We started fast, controlling the rebound, but then we committed mistakes that made them pull away. In the end we boxed out well and that was key for the victory,”

“Qualification was very difficult for ourselves since we had important players injured, and we’ve had a lot of problems during the tournament, as well as what happened with Iziane, but we’ve finally made it and we’re very happy,”

Karla Martins (Brasil)

“The game has been quite complicated but I think we put our hearts on it and that made us win,”

“now we have time to prepare for the Olimpics and to re-join some injured players. We’ll go to fight to make it the best we can,”

Natalaia Mares (Brasil)

“The team gave all it could and that’s why we won. I hope Iziane will re-join the team and that she and the coach can fix the things for the Olimpics”

Paulo Bassul (Coach Brasil)

“We were in a difficult situation with all the new look of the team, with a lot of new players. We had a lot of injured players and felt a lot of pressure. Some players have had to step up because they hadn’t been a long time in the national team,”

“We could take this games in two ways: afraid or as an opportunity to show our strength and show that the team is able to take a ‘do or die’ game. We needed 11 players and we’ve had 11 gladiators,”