(ThePapare Basketball Championship 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka) Matches continued at Kothalawala Defense University Indoor Courts, after adverse weather conditions disrupted the sessions that were scheduled to be played at outdoor venues in the U19 Schools Basketball tournament 2017.
De Mazenod College (DMZ) vs Asian International School (AIS)
AIS breezed through to another victory playing against DMZ dominating the entire game as it ended up 60-25 at full time. Arnold Brent led the scoring role for AIS with 24 points. Half time scores read 33 -12 in favour of AIS.
It was the defence that did the trick to AIS as they managed to hold off the opposition not letting them score even ten points at any quarter. For DMZ it was Manilka who top scored with a dozen points.
Royal College (RC) vs Gateway College (GCC)
The Royalists were heavy favourites for this match but GCC did play some scintillating basketball to give a good competition to RC. GCC did go on to lead the game after the maiden quarter but the fight back from the Reid Avenue lads was on point. RC shifted their defensive tactics to a full court man-to-man which stopped many offensive possessions of GCC. GCC answering switched to a half court press which gave them a four points lead at the end of the first half, 26-30.
RC continued the man-to-man defence after lemons which turned the tables for them; GCC missing possessions due to pressure gave away the half time lead as RC led the game, 52-40 at the end of the third quarter. Rukshan Atapattu scored 31 points for RC while Nithesh scored 15 points for GCC. Lack of rebounds and giving away possession cheaply resulted GCC a loss while RC remained unbeaten with the final score reading, 61-53.
Ananda College (AC) vs Lyceum International School – Wattala (LISW)
Starting from the jump ball, AC didn’t hesitate to show their skills and fire power while pushing LISW over the foul limit. It was Yeshan Sahasara who did most of the scoring for AC during the maiden quarter with 13 points. Even though LISW did keep a half step back in the court during the second quarter, they tailed the game by eight points into half time. Scores at lemons read, 31-23.
Skipper Rashan Perera joined the party for LISW who scored 12 points during the third quarter. AC lost both their key players, Dilruk Maithree and Kusal Dissanayake during the second half due to foul trouble. LISW taking maximum advantage of the situation closed the game winning, 59-52.
St. Peter`s College (SPC) vs Maris Stella College (MSC)
SPC went on to lead the game by six points after the first quarter. It was important that MSC tightened screws in defence to break the momentum of the Peterites, which they did during the second quarter. SPC forward Aron finished off the first half with three successful shots from the perimeter out of his four attempts while Prabodha Subasinghe added 09 points. SPC led the game at half time, 31-28.
MSC did find the right strategy as they switched into a half court press from a zonal defence as they outsmarted SPC 12-19 points during the third quarter. But, MSC skipper Praveen Alwis had to sit out on the bench due to foul trouble. SPC getting back into full throttle sealed the game, 64-57 at full time.
