It will be an all-Spanish semifinals at the Torneig de Bàsquet Junior Ciutat de L’Hospitalet after U18 Torrons Vicens L’Hospitalet beat U18 Cedevita Zagreb 59-69 to secure second place in Group B. L’Hospitalet, which finished with a 2-1 record, got 21 points, 5 assists and 4 steals from Raul Verano and Sergi Tell added 12 points and 7 steals. Now, the host team will take on defending champion U18 FC Barcelona Lassa in Sunday’s first semi. Cedevita, which was without its injured point guard and leader, Antonio Jordano, was paced by Darko Bajo with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Cedevita finished third in Group B with a 1-2 record and will play against U18 ALBA Berlin for fifth place.

Neither team could score a basket for nearly the first 4 minutes until Tell made it 1-2 and the score was 3-4 after 5 minutes. Toni Nakic hit a three-pointer in keeping Cedevita close but Pablo Fontanet picked up 5 points as L’Hospitalet was leading 11-15 after 10 minutes. L’Hospitalet started pulling away in the second quarter thanks to 3 three-pointers for an 18-30 lead. Cedevita tried to fight back into the game and Nakic’s three-pointer trimmed the gap to 24-30. L’Hospitalet pushed the cushion out to 25-38 but Cedevita fought back again and trailed just 32-38 at the intermission. Cedevita did not score for nearly the first 3 minutes of the second half in falling behind 32-43. Bajo scored 3 baskets to get Cedevita back to within 40-47 but Verona answered with a three-pointer and Cedevita could not get closer than 8 points in the quarter, trailing 47-55 after 30 minutes. Cedevita did close the gap to 55-58 but then went scoreless for the next 5 minutes and Verano scored 4 points in opening a 55-65 lead with less than 2 minutes to play. And L’Hospitalet iced the game with 4 free throws in the final 43 seconds.