Magec faced the decisive match against CB Almería, after losing by two points after two overtimes against Ramón y Cajal de Granada and winning by 9 against Cádiz CB Gades. Magec Tías against gender violence and Syngenta Almería faced each other in the last match of the promotion phase to Women's League 2. After the victory of CD Ramón y Cajal – UGR against Cádiz CB Gades in the first match of the last day, if Almería won against Magec, the host team would be champion, if Magec won by less than 4 points, the Granada team would be promoted, while if the Lanzarote team won by more than four, the islanders would take the coveted promotion trophy to the Canary Islands. Thus, with everything distributed, with everything to play for, with all the emotion in the world, the last 40 minutes of the promotion phase to Women's League 2 were played.
The match had a frenetic start where the local team had learned well how to prevent the Lanzarote team from developing their game. With problems defending and few rebounds, the Tías team seemed a very different team from the one seen on the previous day.
Five triples, practically consecutive, from Syngenta Almería opened the gap that would ultimately mark the match. Aday Villalba was hoarse asking his players for concentration, who continued to fail where they usually don't, in defense.
A three-pointer by Brittany Shine on the buzzer "made up" the score to 34 to 18, a very large difference that the island bench wanted, and should, reduce.
At the beginning of the second half, it gave the sensation that the defensive improvement was not quite arriving and the rebounds under the hoop continued to escape. A three-pointer by María García made the local bench even angrier, who asked for a time-out to try to fix things. The score, 37 to 18, spoke for itself.
Back on the court, everything continued to work for the Andalusian team in attack and defense, and nothing for the island team. The changes in Magec Tías tried to give new energy and new ideas to the Lanzarote team, who saw how they couldn't stop the bleeding of triples from the hosts with a great percentage of success. Despite a three-pointer by Marta Moreno, the score was 48 to 25 for the Andalusians at the equator of the quarter, who were winning the game against the Lanzarote team in all facets.
The match continued to get complicated for Magec Tías, who saw how Marta Moreno and Yaiza García were charged with three personal fouls before the break. Meanwhile, the locals continued to have a loose wrist from beyond the three-point line, reaching the break with a wide advantage of 52 to 28 for the locals.
At halftime, the statistics spoke for themselves. Alicia González and Lillian Chukwueze passed the ten-point mark, while only Tyler Gilbert, with 9, approached for the Lanzarote team. In the rebounds, while the locals made 29, the islanders only made 15, while in the triples the Almería team scored 9 with a 53 percent success rate compared to the 2 scored by Aday Villalba's girls.
It was clear that in the second half of the match, either things changed or Magec Tías' dream of being in Women's League 2 next season would end, having to score 24 points more than their rival to tie, but 28 to take the title and the promotion to Lanzarote.
At the beginning of the second half, a three-pointer by Marta Moreno was answered with another by the local team, which left no room for opportunity for Magec Tías, since, without having reached 2 minutes of the quarter, Yaiza García saw the fourth personal foul.
Despite the handicap of playing practically the entire quarter without the brave Lanzarote player, the island team gradually changed their face, giving very different sensations on the court. Jennifer Suárez scored a three-pointer, Ty Gilbert began to rescue balls under the hoop and the game was more fluid, but to put more difficulties, Marta Moreno saw the fourth person with 5 minutes to go and had to be replaced. Another blow for a battered Magec Tías who, without ever giving up, saw how the title was put on the scale of miracles.
From lost to the river, the island team must have thought when Yaiza García entered with 2'45 to go to the end of the quarter, who had four personal fouls. You had to play it all or nothing. Magec improved somewhat and the Andalusian bench did not see it clearly, asking for a time-out with the score 68 to 43, with 2'10" to go to the end of the quarter.
Back on the court, it was clear, attack through the area where Yaiza García defended. Almería did not want surprises and the best way to avoid it was with the Lanzarote player out. Magec Tías held on well, although without getting any benefit, ending the quarter 70 to 45.
At the beginning of the last quarter, Magec set out to improve its image with a three-pointer by Marta Moreno and another by Sadalia Ellis, improving in the rebounding task in defense.
With 6'41" to go, Marta Moreno was eliminated with 5 personal fouls, while moments later it was Sara González for the locals who followed the same path. The improvement of the Lanzarote team in this quarter was remarkable, which pulled more of caste, although insufficient to defeat a rival very well planted on the court and who managed their advantage adequately.
With just over 4 minutes to go, the score was 80 to 62 and Aday Villalba asked for a time-out.
Magec Tías set out to finish with a much less bulky score and gradually reduced differences until finishing the match with the score of 82 to 70, achieving the Almería team the promotion to LF2 to the detriment of the Canary Islands, among the tears of all the players and the technical staff.
Magec Tías says goodbye to a brilliant season to which only the icing on the cake of promotion was missing.
Technical sheet?
Syngenta CB Almería: Alicia González (22), Lilian Chukwueze (14), Bea Fernández (10), Lucía Torres (4) and Conchi Sánchez (14). María García (10), Irene Pepper (4), Elena Expósito (2), Sara González (2), Eli Martínez 0 and María González 0 also played.
Magec Tías against Gender Violence: Sadalia Ellis (10), Yaiza García (12), Guacimara Rodríguez, Britthany Shine (7) and Ty Gilbert (26). Alba Rodríguez (3), Moreiba Morín, Marta Moreno (9), Nereida Bermúdez and Jennifer Suárez (3) also played.
Referees: Sevilla and Retamero. They eliminated Sara González for personal fouls for the locals and Marta Moreno for the visitors
Partial scores each quarter: 34 – 18 / 52 – 28 / 70 – 45 / 82 - 70
Incidents: Last match of the promotion phase to Liga Femenina 2 played in the Moisés Ruiz Pavilion in Almería before about 600 people.