Dénia basketball player Gerard Sastre Escortell recently participated in the ACB Youth Tournament with the Valencia Basket Club Children's team. The tournament was held at the Juan de la Cierva Pavilion in Getafe and the facilities of the Colegio Europeo Aristos, with the collaboration of the Getafe City Council and the Madrid Basketball Federation.
The event poster was made up of many of the best teams on the national scene, who take advantage of these opportunities to contrast their level on the way to the big events that await them during the season. For example, the Spanish Club Championship and the Mini Copa del Rey, which is played in parallel to that of the majors.
Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Baxi Manera, Fuenlabrada, Movistar Estudiantes, Ucam Murcia and the hosts of Colegio Aristos accompanied Valencia Basket in this edition of the competition. Gerard's team passed the initial round of groups giving up a single defeat against FC Barcelona.
Classified as second in group B, they faced Real Madrid, first in group A, in the semifinal, whom they defeated convincingly (94-58). In this way they earned the right to dispute the rematch against the Catalans, who for their part eliminated Baxi Manresa in their matchup in the penultimate round.
The match for the title was tremendously competitive and how could it be otherwise it was resolved with an agonizing end (88-87), from which the Valencians emerged victorious this time. A single point lead finally separated both teams, the Valencians successfully defending their lead in the closing stages of the match after missing two free throws by their rival with two seconds remaining.
Gerard Sastre's jump
Gerard Sastre began playing basketball at the Maristas de Dénia school from where he moved on to the Municipal School in the Benjamín category. In his second year, Alevín participated in the Spanish Championship of Regional Teams representing our Community, which obtained a meritorious fifth place.
That same course he was proclaimed Regional Champion of the Alevín of the Zonal category 1 with his team DBC 09, under the orders of Hayzam Luna and Carlos Vila. At the end of his first Infantile year in our structure last season, he received an invitation from Valencia Basket to join his project, taking this brave leap at the beginning of this campaign.
