ThePapare Basketball Championship 2017 kicked off again with the girl’s semi-final matches. The first semi-final match was played between Lyceum International School – Wattala and Holy Family Convent where the latter managed to advance to play in the finals.
Top Point Scorers
Holy Family Convent – Manthila Gallassage – 13 Points
Lyceum International School Wattala – Hazeena Abdul – 8 Points
Pre-Match Quotes
LISW Coach speaking with ThePapare.com prior to the match said, “We’re playing at a considerable disadvantage since one our key players Lubna Morseth is out due to an illness and we are facing a considerable height disadvantage as well but we’re hoping to perform well given the obstacles and win the match.”
HFC Coach speaking with ThePapare.com prior to the match said, “It’s going to be a tough match they have a lot more experienced players than we do and good long-distance shooters but we’re planning on blocking them closely and maintaining control of the game until the end.”
Match Report
HFC took first possession of the ball but failed to convert it successfully to a scoring opportunity having missed the layup. The two teams adopted varying defensive strategies as HFC moved into a man to man defence to try and limit the opposition jump shots while LISW, on the other hand, opted for a 2:3 zone defence. HFC secured both offensive and defensive rebounds giving them an advantage and allowed them to take the lead in the first quarter as LISW trailed behind struggling to score.
First-Quarter: Lyceum International School Wattala- 00 Holy Family Convent-09
During the second quarter, HFC intercepted many passes and converted them successfully into fast break opportunities to increase the deficit. It was during this quarter that LISW finally settled into the game and scored their first basket however they still trailed behind HFC going into lemons.
Half-time: Lyceum Wattala-09 Holy Family Convent-21
During the second half of the game Hazeena Abdul who was the highest scorer for LISW penetrated through the HFC defence to finish strong near the rim although they failed to collect crucial rebounds and missed out on many second shot opportunities. The HFC team ran into some unfortunate luck as one of their key players was injured and had to sit the rest of the game out while LISW moved up to a half-court press and attempted to reduce the deficit in her absence.
Third-Quarter: Lyceum International School – Wattala-15 Holy Family Convent-29
LISW lost the plot of the game during the final 10 minutes only managing to score 3 points during the quarter. The LISW players lacked the assists necessary to secure a basket while the HFC players managed to get through the LISW defence without too much difficulty and scored consistently using the post players.
Full-time: Lyceum International School – Wattala-18 Holy Family Convent-39
Speaking to the coach of HFC team after the match he had this to say to ThePapare.com, “We managed to control the post collecting a majority of the rebounds and we successfully blocked their long-range shooters which allowed us to keep the lead that we obtained in the initial stages of the match and thus allowing us to win.”
