Flamengo closed the Curitiba stage of the LDB this Thursday (20) in the best possible way: with a win. Facing Praia Clube, the Crias da Gávea team won with a score of 68x57 and finished their participation in the first phase with eight wins in ten games. Led by coach Paulo Chupeta, the red-black base had an excellent and consistent performance throughout the tournament and was crowned with a great sequence of positive results. 

In today's game, power forward Ruan led all scorers with 21 points and eight rebounds. Matheusinho, one of Flamengo's top players in the competition, finished with 15 points, four rebounds, and seven assists. Felipin (12 points and five rebounds), Camargo (nine points), and João Vitor (nine points and five rebounds) rounded out Flamengo's top scorers. 

A standout in the competition, Matheusinho analyzed the first phase. 

"Our team started out with some disbelief, most people disbelieving in us, and in the first game against Pinheiros, our team managed to show off a bit more of our work. We showed our collective spirit. And then, in the second game, everyone already knew who Flamengo was, what team they came with, what they came for, and what Flamengo came for: they came to be champions. The jersey weighs a lot too. Last year the team did poorly, and this year we came in with a different approach to change what happened," said the point guard. 

The game's top scorer, power forward Ruan, spoke about his partnership on the court with center João Vitor. 

"We understand each other very well on and off the court, we always try to assist each other, score a few points, and today we played well, just like in the last game of the first phase. We qualified, I think, in second place. We lost two and won the others, now we're going to work hard to achieve our goal, which is to finish first," said the number 8.

Team commander, coach Paulo Chupeta, took stock of the Crias da Gávea's performance in the LDB.

"My assessment is extremely positive. We started the season feeling discredited, a team nobody knew, and Flamengo's record hadn't been good over the last three years. We started working. This team worked for twenty days straight, mainly on the defensive aspects and some offensive details we worked on together, taught by Gustavinho in the adult team. These guys are always ready to fill in when someone is missing in the adult team. And the team performed very well, as I told you yesterday. I have to praise the work of Rafael Bernardelli, our physical trainer, who managed to get these kids through this marathon. There were ten games in eleven days, with travel, stress, away from home, different food, different weather. I just have to congratulate these kids, congratulate Rafael Bernardelli, our assistant, Igor, and also the Flamengo management who believed in me and invited me to manage this team. I came with great pleasure," concluded the coach. 

The basketball teams of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo receive funding from their sponsors – Thinkseg, TIM, AmBev, Rede D'or, IRB Brasil RE, CSN, Brasil Plural, and EY – via the Federal Incentive Law/Ministry of Sports (IR) and the State Incentive Law/Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat of Sports, Leisure, and Youth (Seelje), in addition to support from the Brazilian Club Committee (CBC) resulting from the decentralization of resources from the Pelé Law. The Anjo da Guarda Rubro-Negro Project, a personal tax transfer, benefits all Olympic sports of the Most Beloved Club.