Frank Vitucci gives his players a stern talking-to: “55 points allowed in one half…”

Frank Vitucci doesn’t mince words about what went wrong in the Garda Ball Elite semifinal that Cantù lost to Verona. The Acqua S.Bernardo coach emphasized, above all, the defensive struggles shown in the first half of the game: “This game had two sides to it. Obviously, I didn’t like the first half at all, because you can’t give up 55 points in a single half.”

This approach inevitably affected the Biancoblù’s performance, forcing them to expend a great deal of energy trying to make a comeback. Vitucci, however, found positive signs in the team’s response after halftime: “The reaction and the grit shown on the court in the second half, on the other hand, allowed us to get back into the game, and that’s something we hadn’t seen up to that point.”

Cantù, in fact, stepped up its game in the second half, coming within a hair’s breadth of a comeback that had seemed highly unlikely. Verona, leading 55-41 at halftime after shooting 53.3% from three-point range, maintained a 12-point lead at the end of the third quarter, 74-62. In the final quarter, however, Acqua S.Bernardo ramped up the pressure even further.

Led primarily by Gravett, the team’s top scorer with 19 points, Cantù managed to close the gap to just one possession in the final minute. From the free-throw line, however, Zampini allowed Scaligera to withstand the final assault and secure an 88-86 victory, thereby earning a spot in the tournament final.

For Vitucci, regardless of the result, the game clearly highlighted where the team needs to focus in the coming weeks: “We need to keep working, especially on defense, because the games awaiting us on the next two Saturdays will be crucial turning points in this preseason.”

Cantù will take the court again on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. to play in the third-place game of the Garda Ball Elite against the loser of the match between Venice and Trento.