Start of the women’s and men’s semi finals

This weekend, the semi finals in the women’s and men’s LBBL are about to start.

In the men’s semi finals, the 4 top teams of the regular season are still on the court. A « best of 3 » series will decide which 2 teams will go to the LBBL finals.

Number one seed Amicale Steinsel and number4 seed Résidence Walfer will meet in the derby, both teams split the season series (1:1). Walfer is playing with 2 or 3 professional players on the court at the same time depending on their opponent. Against Steinsel, Walfer played with 3 at the same time during the season, this obviously makes the team much more dangerous. Can Amicale take advantage of its home court or will Résidence take a 1:0 lead?

In the second semi final series, number 2 seed Etzella Ettelbruck has home court advantage against number 3 seed Basket Esch, both teams also split the season series (1:1). Nearly one month ago, Esch was able to beat the opponent behind a balanced team effort (5 players with 13+ points), Esch seems to be ready at the right moment of the season while Ettelbruck has played well consistently this season and therefore earns the role of the slight favorite.

Saturday:
19:30 Amicale Steinsel – Résidence Walfer
Sunday:
17:15 Etzella Ettelbruck – Basket Esch

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In the women’s semi finals, a « best of 3 » will decide which 2 teams go to the finals.

Number one seed Gréngewald Hueschtert has played a near perfect season, the team is unbeaten in the championship and it will be difficult for any team to beat the « Greens » in a series. Number four seed Amicale Steinsel clinched its ticket with a victory in Contern last week, now the team of coach Erny Gruskovnjak has nothing to lose in the series against the big championship favorite from Hueschtert.

Number two seed T71 Dudelange has home court against number 3 seed Sparta Bertrange, but because Ehis Etute will be part of the NIKE HOOP SUMMIT 2024 , the JICL league MVP will miss games in this series. Can Sparta take profit and enter the womens finals? This question will be answered over the next days, the semi finals will be played within 7 days.

Saturday:
18:00 T71 Dudelange – Sparta Bertrange
18:30 Gréngewald Hueschtert – Amicale Steinsel

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In the men’s play-down, the 3rd game day out of 6 is scheduled on Saturday evening.

Saturday:
20:00 Musel Pikes – Mambra Mamer
20:30 Gréngewald Hueschtert – Kordall Steelers

Mamer has the chance to secure a spot in the LBBL for the upcoming 2024/25 season with a victory on the road against the Musel Pikes. There is a possibility that the Musel Pikes, Gréngewald and Kordall could be tied in points after this game day, it looks like the race for the second spot in the standings – which will allow a team to play the promotion/relegation series against the third best team of the National 2 play-offs – will stay a nailbiter until the very end.

The standings:

Despite a difficult situation in the standings, Gréngewald Hueschtert has announced during the week that head coach Ricky Easterling has extended his contract and will therefore continue to coach the team in the 2024/25 season.

Arantia Larochette announced on Friday that Chris Wulff will step down as head coach of the men’s team. In his first year as the team’s head coach, Wulff reached the quarter finals of the championship, Arantia was knocked out by Résidence Walfer.