Brno, December 20 (BD) – KP Brno, Technic Brno and mmcité+ Brno have trouble; and the Brno sports schedule. Photo credit: Mirek Štěpánek / Basket Žabiny Brno
After one of their best halves of the year, Žabiny Brno recovered from a third-quarter swoon to hold on for an 86-81 victory over visiting Slovanka MB on Saturday.
“I think we played very well in the first half,” said Viktor Pruša, the head coach of Žabiny Brno (translated from Czech). “I think it was one of the nicest performances on the offensive half that we have had.”
Žabiny Brno (8-5) enter the three-week holiday break in sixth place in the 12-team ZBL. KP Brno (8-5), which beat Žabiny Brno earlier this month, is in fifth place. Technic Brno (2-11) is in 11th place. All three Brno teams will continue the season on the first weekend of January 2018.
Against Slovanka MB, Žabiny Brno jumped to a 52-42 halftime lead. In the third quarter they were outscored 16-26 before they pulled away to the five-point winning margin in the fourth quarter.
Several players had solid scoring nights. Jana Hausknechtová led the way with 17 points. Point guard Tea Buzov added 16 points. Natálie Stoupalová and Whitney Bays both had 14. Bays, who played her first ZBL game had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Žabiny Brno travel to Sokol Nilfisk H. Králové on Jan. 6. Tip off is 4 p.m.
KP Brno 80, BLK Slavia Praha 85 — After hosting and losing to both Prague powerhouse teams on back-to-back Saturdays, KP Brno has earned a breather: they enter the holiday break in fifth place with an 8-5 record.
On Dec. 9, KP Brno lost to undefeated league-leader USK Praha by 21 points. Last Saturday they lost to third-place BLK Slavia Praha by just five.
“The beginning didn’t work out for use,” David Zdeněk, the head coach of KP Brno, said after the loss to Slavia. “We were cold and without any energy.”
KP Brno was outscored 14-26 in the first quarter. They scored more points than Slavia in each successive quarter, but it wasn’t enough.
“From the second quarter our players got into the fight,” Zdeněk said. “They didn’t drop their heads and they cut into the deficit.”
Monika Satoranská (15 points), Edita Šujanová (13), Veronika Remenárová (12) and Sarah Beránková (10) all scored in double digits.
KP Brno resumes play at home when they host BA K. Vary (3-10) on Jan. 6 at 3:30 p.m.
SBŠ Ostrava 83, Technic Brno 47 — Technic Brno started the season with a 36-point road win at U19 Chance and a 19-point home victory over SBŠ Ostrava, but they could not add to their win total during the second time through the league, losing to U19 Chance at home last Sunday and in Ostrava on Sunday.
Hana Gašicová led the team with 12 points in Ostrava. Monika Stehlíková added 11. Both had their personal season highs of 17 when they played Ostrava in Brno in October.
“The beginning of the game was not that terrible,” said Brno head coach Lucie Zítková. “In the second half, we started to run out of strength and we began looking for mistakes everywhere except in ourselves.”
Technic Brno was outscored in every quarter, including 28-5 in the fourth.
Technic Brno (2-11) is in the 11th place. They have one win more than U19 Chance (1-12). Technic Brno plays next at home against Loko Trutnov (3-10) on Jan. 7 at 5 p.m.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Cold Shooting Night Finishes mmcité+ Brno
With their game rescheduled for Monday so that it could be shown on live national television,
mmcité+ Brno played even with visiting SLUNETA Ústí nad Labem through the first quarter, but abysmal 3-point shooting slowed their offense and contributed to their 46-70 loss.
For the game, Brno made just one of 24 3-point attempts.
mmcité+ Brno (3-10) is 11th in the 12-team Kooperativa NBL. Only one team is lower in the standings, and it is where mmcité+ Brno plays next: at Basket Fio Banka Jindřichův Hradec (0-13) on Dec. 28 at 6 p.m.
Zurab Kereselidze led Brno with 12 points agsaint Ústí nad Labem. (In the previous game at Kolin, Kereselidze had a season-high 14 points.) Mladen Primorac added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Canyon Barry made his home-court debut and scored eight points. He was 0-for-5 from 3-point range. The injured Brian Sullivan, another American sharp shooter, also had trouble in his first game on Brno’s home court; he was 0-for-7 from 3-point range in the season-opening game, which was also on live national television, in early October.
BRNO SPORTS RESULTS
Quick results for various Brno professional and recreational sports for the past week. Home team listed first (when applicable).
Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017
— Women’s Basketball: KP Brno 80, BLK Slavia Praha 85
— Women’s Basketball: Žabiny Brno 86, Slovanka MB 81
Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017
— Women’s Basketball: SBŠ Ostrava 83, Technic Brno 47
Monday, Dec. 18, 2017
— Men’s Basketball: mmcité+ Brno 46, SLUNETA Ústí nad Labem 70
BRNO SPORTS SCHEDULE
The schedule for various Brno professional and recreational sports for the next two weeks. All dates and times subject to change. Home team listed first (when applicable).
Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017
— Hockey: Kometa X Chomutov, 6 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 22, 2017
— Hockey: Sparta X Kometa, 6:30 p.m.
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Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017
— Hockey: Kometa X Dukla, 3:10 p.m. (TV)
Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017
— Hockey: Pardubice X Kometa, 6 p.m.
— Men’s Basketball: Fio banka J. Hradec X mmcité+ Brno, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017
— Hockey: Vítkovice X Kometa, 4 p.m.
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Wednesday, January 3, 2017
— Hockey: Kometa X Liberec, 6 p.m.
— Men’s Basketball: mmcité+ Brno X NH Ostrava, 8 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 5, 2017
— Hockey: Kometa X Plzeň, 6:20 p.m. (TV)
Saturday, January 6, 2017
— Men’s Basketball: DEKSTONE Tuři Svitavy X mmcité+ Brno, 6 p.m.
— Women’s Basketball: KP Brno X BA K. Vary, 3:30 p.m.
— Women’s Basketball: Sokol Nilfisk H. Králové X Žabiny Brno, 4 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 7, 2017
— Women’s Basketball: Technic Brno X Loko Trutnov, 5 p.m.
— Hockey: Kometa X Olomouc, 5 p.m.
The Brno Sports Report is published every Wednesday. All dates and times are subject to change. Most of the stories are about the traditional “English-speaking” team sports — football, hockey, baseball, basketball, American football, rugby, etc. — but it is also about the interesting local spectator and participation sports — tennis, badminton, running, horse racing, swimming, rock climbing, biking, etc. If you have any suggestions for what should be included, please comment below or send an email to brnosports@gmail.com.
