U16 WOMEN

Greece took second place in Group B of the U16 European Championship for Women by grinding out a 53-43 win over the Czech Republic on Saturday in Cagliari.

14-year-old forward Dimitra Tsavou had 19 points on 7/9 shooting and added 10 rebounds but it needed big defensive contributions from her team to keep the Czechs at arm's length.

The Greeks never trailed and built a 22-12 advantage early in the second period before their rivals cut the deficit to 27-21 at half-time.

Mariana Opocenska drained her team's only three-pointer of the night to bring the Czechs within a single point midway through the third but Greece steadily accelerated away.

And despite shooting just 32%, they took advantage of a flurry of turnovers to hold on.

Opocenska had a team-best 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Czech Republic who progress in third place.