St. Joseph’s College Colombo emerged victorious over S.Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia in their U-19 All-Islands fixture last evening. They outclassed their counterparts, 49- 35 at the final whistle.
The game commenced at 4.20 pm at the St. Joseph’s College Basketball Court, Maradana with the home team winning the jump ball. Joes drew first blood as Shivanga Perera got things underway swishing the nets off a layup. Tharusha Allewala got the party started for the school by the sea. Comparatively, the Joes outfit worked the ball really well amongst their five in the maiden quarter whilst using their post players, to continuously attack the basket. It took a while for S.Thomas’ to settle into the proceedings, but adjusted their game fast enough to counter their opponents. The score read 18-7 in favour of the Joes at the end.
Nathosh Wijendran opened up the second quarter sinking a jumper from the right. The lads from Darley Road maintained an eight-zero run for half the quarter. S. Thomas’ seemed to have trouble finishing at the basket, as their driving lanes were heavily guarded. Both teams clung on equally to their offensive and defensive rebounds. 
Even though the Thomians switched to a man-to-man defense from their usual formation in the arc; the home lads adopted to the defense well and maintained a healthy lead of thirteen points as the game was called off for lemons.
Half Time – St.Joeseph’s College – 31- S.Thomas’ College – 17
The second half displayed a rejuvenated S.Thomas’ team; more active than they had been the entire game. Their defense improved showing signs of a possible comeback, allowing the Josephian’s to score only five points in the entire third quarter. The Thomians showed a clear sign of foul trouble in this quarter; testing the Joes on a number of occasions at the free throw line. However, their free throw percentage was clearly poor, failing to take advantage of the granted chances.
The last quarter of the game witnessed gusty play by both sides; Thomians trying to close in on the deficit while the Josephian’s seemed unshakable in their dominance. Matthew Senn and Mahishan Serasinghe, led the Thomians, driving hard towards the basket, in a futile search for points. However, they still fell short at the end of play.
Full Time – St. Joseph’s College – 49- S. Thomas’ College – 35
ThePapare.com player of the match – Kisal Cooray (St. Joseph’s College – Colombo 10)
