1st Division A Round 18 (Regular Season): HBA-Marsky beats ToPo in a derby game

The Regular Season in 1st Division A is slowly approaching the end. But there may be still some important changes in the final standings in the last 4 rounds. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most interesting game was a derby match between two local teams from Helsinki: HBA-Marsky (#8) and ToPo (#7). HBA-Marsky (7-10) won against visiting ToPo (9-9) 90-81. HBA-Marsky forced 21 ToPo turnovers and outrebounded them 43-31 including 29 on the defensive glass. 24 personal fouls committed by ToPo helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. The best player for the winners was guard Christian Blomfelt (197, agency: Diamond Sports) who had a double-double by scoring 24 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. Guard Eelis Korhonen (190-2007) chipped in 13 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists. At the other side the best for losing team was point guard Markus Rautasalo (180-2000) who recorded a double-double by scoring 13 points and 10 assists. ToPo's coach Jussi-aleksi Keijonen rotated eleven players in this game, but that didn't help. HBA-Marsky maintains eighth position with 7-10 record. ToPo at the other side keeps the seventh place with nine games lost. HBA-Marsky are looking forward to face bottom-ranked Raiders Basket (#12) in Jarvenpaa in the next round. ToPo will play at home against Pyrinto Ak.A (#9) and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
An exciting game between Top Four teams was played in Aanekoski. Second ranked Kipina faced 4th ranked JBA. Host Kipina (14-4) smashed guests from Jyvaskyla (12-5) 114-89. It ended at the same time the three-game winning streak of JBA. It was a good game for American point guard Jake Hilmer (180-2000, college: Upper Iowa) who led his team to a victory with 29 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 6 steals. Joe Cookson contributed with 32 points and 7 rebounds (on 9-of-11 shooting from the field) for the winners. Guard Miro Koskela (202-2004) replied with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists for JBA. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Kipina maintains second position with 14-4 record having just one point less than leader ACO Basket, which they share with Karkkila. JBA at the other side keeps the fourth place with five games lost. Kipina's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Aanekoski to the arena Huima.
Leader ACO Basket delivered the sixteenth victory on Thursday night. This time they crushed 9th ranked Pyrinto Ak.A (6-12) 99-76 in Tampere. Tyler Harris had a double-double by scoring 28 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists to lead the charge for the winners. ACO Basket's coach Aleksi Koskinen felt very confident that he used entire bench which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. The best for the losing side was Otto Raisanen with 22 points. ACO Basket (16-1) have an impressive nine-game winning streak. They maintain first position. Loser Pyrinto Ak.A keeps the ninth place with 12 games lost. ACO Basket will meet at home HBA-Marsky (#8) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Pyrinto Ak.A will play against ToPo in Helsinki and it may be a tough game between close rivals.

Rest of the games of round 18 were quite predictable and ended without any surprises. Here they are:
bottom-ranked Raiders Basket was defeated by LrNMKY in Lappeenranta 73-65. RaPy beat Huima at home 70-59. HNMKY was destroyed by Karkkila on the opponent's court 111-92.
The best stats of 18th round was 24 points and 10 rebounds by Nikolas Kataja of HNMKY.



Pyrinto Ak.A - ACO Basket 76-99

Leader ACO Basket delivered the sixteenth victory on Thursday night. This time they crushed 9th ranked Pyrinto Ak.A (6-12) 99-76 in Tampere. ACO Basket outrebounded Pyrinto Ak.A 40-29 including a 32-19 advantage in defensive rebounds. ACO Basket looked well-organized offensively handing out 25 assists. American forward Tyler Harris (201-2001, college: Richmond) had a double-double by scoring 28 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists to lead the charge for the winners and the other American import forward Kyle Johnson (203-2000, college: Delaware St.) chipped in 23 points and 12 rebounds during the contest. Harris is a former Eurobasket Summer League player, which is considered top international summer league in the market. Four ACO Basket players scored in double figures. ACO Basket's coach Aleksi Koskinen felt very confident that he used entire bench which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. The best for the losing side was forward Otto Raisanen (188-2003) with 22 points and guard Eeki Ylivakeri (190-2007) scored 19 points. ACO Basket (16-1) have an impressive nine-game winning streak. They maintain first position. Loser Pyrinto Ak.A keeps the ninth place with 12 games lost. ACO Basket will meet at home HBA-Marsky (#8) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Pyrinto Ak.A will play against ToPo in Helsinki and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
ACO Basket: H.Tyler 28+12reb+5ast, J.Kyle 23+12reb+3ast, H.Shawn 10+2reb+2ast, T.Kuukkanen 10+1reb+2ast, P.Eino 7+3reb+3ast, M.Adong 7+4reb+2ast
Pyrinto Ak.A: R.Otto 22+4reb+3ast, Y.Eeki 19+1reb+2ast, H.Eetu 10+6reb+5ast, P.Mikael 8+1reb+1ast, E.Ville-Pekka 7+6reb+1ast, M.Topi 5+3reb+1ast

LrNMKY - Raiders Basket 73-65

There was no surprise in Lappeenranta where 12th ranked Raiders Basket (1-17) was defeated by tenth ranked LrNMKY (4-14) 73-65 on Thursday. Forward Valtteri Heiskanen (198-2004) had a double-double by scoring 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead the charge for the winners and forward Patrik En (193-2004) chipped in 8 points and 12 rebounds during the contest. The best for the losing side was American forward Shawn Montague (199, college: SNHU) with a double-double by scoring 19 points and 11 rebounds and British guard Oliver Rapo (195-2006) scored 7 points. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. LrNMKY maintains tenth position with 4-14 record. Raiders Basket lost twelfth consecutive game. They stay dead last with 17 lost games. LrNMKY will meet higher ranked JBA (#4) in the next round and they do not belong to the favorites in that game. Raiders Basket will play against HBA-Marsky (#8) and hope to win that game.
Top scorers:
LrNMKY: V.Heiskanen 17+13reb+3ast, N.Tammi 14+6reb+1ast, P.En 8+12reb+3ast, K.Kalin 8+3reb+1ast, O.Kalsta 8+1reb+4ast, J.Immonen 7+4reb+1ast
Raiders Basket: S.Montague 19+11reb+1ast, A.Aleksanteri 9+3reb, S.Toni 9+4reb, G.Ivan 8+5reb, T.Sami 7+5reb, R.Oliver 7+4reb+3ast

RaPy - Huima 70-59

No shocking result in a game in Tampere where sixth ranked RaPy (10-8) defeated 10th ranked Huima (3-14) 70-59 on Thursday. RaPy held Huima to an opponent 25.0 percent shooting from the field compared to 35.1 percent accuracy of the winners. Forward Samppa Maki (192-2001) had a double-double by scoring 20 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists to lead the charge for the winners and Bulgarian guard Angel Mavrodiev (183-1991) chipped in 19 points during the contest. RaPy's coach Jorgo Dakaj used an eleven-player rotation and allowed the starting five to rest. The best for the losing side was American guard Raheem Anthony (195, college: St.Thomas) with a double-double by scoring 23 points, 16 rebounds and 6 assists and guard Veeti Jamsen (188-2002) scored 7 points and 8 rebounds. RaPy moved-up to fifth place, which they share with HNMKY. Huima lost sixth consecutive game. They dropped to the eleventh position with 14 games lost. RaPy will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Huima's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Aanekoski Kipina.
Top scorers:
RaPy: S.Maki 20+10reb+6ast, A.Mavrodiev 19+2reb, K.Puittinen 11+1reb+1ast, V.Niskanen 7+8reb, P.Peltokangas 6+9reb+1ast, J.Saarinen 5+6reb+2ast
Huima: R.Anthony 23+16reb+6ast, M.Atte 10+1reb+1ast, K.Tatu 10+5reb, J.Veeti 7+8reb+3ast, N.Onni 6+2ast, F.Julius 3+5reb

HBA-Marsky - ToPo 90-81

The most interesting game was a derby match between two local teams from Helsinki: HBA-Marsky (#8) and ToPo (#7). HBA-Marsky (7-10) won against visiting ToPo (9-9) 90-81. HBA-Marsky forced 21 ToPo turnovers and outrebounded them 43-31 including 29 on the defensive glass. 24 personal fouls committed by ToPo helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. The best player for the winners was guard Christian Blomfelt (197, agency: Diamond Sports) who had a double-double by scoring 24 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. Guard Eelis Korhonen (190-2007) chipped in a double-double by scoring 13 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists. At the other side the best for losing team was point guard Markus Rautasalo (180-2000) who recorded a double-double by scoring 13 points and 10 assists and Abel Sufuentes added 17 points and 7 rebounds respectively. Five HBA-Marsky and four ToPo players scored in double figures. ToPo's coach Jussi-aleksi Keijonen rotated eleven players in this game, but that didn't help. HBA-Marsky maintains eighth position with 7-10 record. ToPo at the other side keeps the seventh place with nine games lost. HBA-Marsky are looking forward to face bottom-ranked Raiders Basket (#12) in Jarvenpaa in the next round. ToPo will play at home against Pyrinto Ak.A (#9) and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
HBA-Marsky: B.Christian 24+12reb+5ast, B.Passila 21+3reb, E.Korhonen 13+8reb+10ast, L.Sellman 12+5reb, V.Varila 10+2reb+3ast, M.Haliseva 10+4reb+2ast
ToPo: A.Robin 20+2reb, S.Abel 17+7reb+1ast, R.Markus 13+3reb+10ast, M.Alvar 10+6reb+3ast, L.Sakari 6+4reb+1ast, M.Akseli 5

Kipina - JBA 114-89

An exciting game between Top Four teams was played in Aanekoski. Second ranked Kipina faced 4th ranked JBA. Host Kipina (14-4) smashed guests from Jyvaskyla (12-5) 114-89. It ended at the same time the three-game winning streak of JBA. Kipina dominated down low during the game scoring 54 of its points in the paint compared to JBA's 34 and made 30-of-36 charity shots (83.3 percent) during the game, while JBA only scored ten points from the stripe. Kipina had a 36-21 advantage in offensive rebounds. JBA was plagued by 24 personal fouls down the stretch. It was a good game for American point guard Jake Hilmer (180-2000, college: Upper Iowa) who led his team to a victory with 29 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 6 steals. The other American import guard Joe Cookson (198, college: Pomona-Pitzer) contributed with 32 points and 7 rebounds (on 9-of-11 shooting from the field) for the winners. Guard Miro Koskela (202-2004) replied with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists and point guard Santeri Manninen (181-2009) added 19 points and 5 assists in the effort for JBA. Four JBA players scored in double figures. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Kipina maintains second position with 14-4 record having just one point less than leader ACO Basket, which they share with Karkkila. JBA at the other side keeps the fourth place with five games lost. Kipina's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Aanekoski to the arena Huima.
Top scorers:
Kipina: C.Joe 32+7reb+2ast, H.Jake 29+5reb+8ast, M.Jalen 25+8reb+3ast, V.Virtaharju 9+2reb, S.Mantymaa 8+3reb, R.Hinkkanen 5+3reb
JBA: M.Santeri 19+3reb+5ast, K.Miro 18+8reb+8ast, S.Elias 18+5reb+2ast, B.Panu 11+3reb+1ast, O.Leon 9+5reb+4ast, V.Vesterinen 6+5reb+1ast

Karkkila - HNMKY 111-92

Rather expected game when 5th ranked HNMKY (10-8) was rolled over on the road by third ranked Karkkila (14-4) 111-92 on Sunday. Karkkila forced 19 HNMKY turnovers. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 29 assists. Canadian guard Emmanuel Bandoumel (193-1998, college: Nebraska) scored 24 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists to lead the charge for the winners and point guard Nestori Kivimaki (184-2004) chipped in 21 points during the contest. The best for the losing side was guard Nikolas Kataja (192-2002) with a double-double by scoring 24 points and 10 rebounds and center Roni Vuori (205-2002) produced a double-double by scoring 21 points and 10 rebounds. Five Karkkila and four HNMKY players scored in double figures. Karkkila moved-up to second place, which they share with Kipina. Loser HNMKY keeps the fifth position with eight games lost. They share it with RaPy. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest.
Top scorers:
Karkkila: B.Emmanuel 24+5reb+7ast, N.Kivimaki 21+2reb+3ast, J.Caleb 16+5reb+4ast, M.Hyytiainen 15+4reb+2ast, P.Poutiainen 11+6reb+1ast, W.Bani 11+2reb+5ast
HNMKY: K.Nikolas 24+10reb+3ast, H.Lenni 22+5reb+2ast, V.Roni 21+10reb+1ast, P.Olli 10+4ast, K.Rasmus 8+4reb+5ast, S.Eetu 5+4reb