Nový Jičín beat Zlín 76-70 in the 1. liga on Sunday afternoon. The hosts extended their unbeaten run to eight league matches, closing out a run that had been building over the last few weeks. The result kept them at the summit of the table, six points clear of the chasing pack.
And here's the thing, you could see it coming. Nový Jičín had won their last outing 97-69 against Brno U23 Women, and before that 80-68 at Vysoke. Zlín, meanwhile, had taken two straight — 71-59 over Vysoke and 67-55 against Opava 2 — but this was a different level of opposition.
To be fair, both sides came into the game knowing what was at stake. The hosts sat first after 18 games with 14 wins and no draws. Zlín occupied third place, also with 18 matches played, 12 victories and six defeats. Nobody had points on the board yet, so every result carried weight.
By then the hosts had already shown they could string together good performances. Their run included wins over Svitava — 84-88 one way, 107-81 the next, then 86-71 and 67-82 in between. Zlín had beaten Svitava 86-71 and 90-67 before losing 67-82. The pattern was becoming clear: Nový Jičín kept finding answers when they needed them.
The final margin of six points told the story. The hosts didn't need to dig in for a last-minute fight, they controlled the tempo and took the game to their visitors. That price had gone when Zlín failed to answer the early pressure.
