The first match of the Defence Services Championship took place today at the Panagoda army camp basketball court in which Air Force (Girls) triumphed over Army (Girls) 60-52.
The first quarter started off with the Air Force team getting possession of the ball from the jump ball but it was soon stolen by the Army players as they capitalised on the interception by drawing in the first foul of the game and scoring from a free shot. The Army players were in favour of a zone defensive strategy to reduce the opponents scoring opportunities which seemed to have worked as their opponents only scored 5 baskets. It was a slow quarter for both teams as they lost possession of the ball numerous times when approaching the rim and poor offensive rebounds of both teams didn’t allow either of them to get a comfortable lead.
The second quarter started off with the Air force players scoring first from downtown but the Army players soon countered as they scored momentarily with the use of a few good passes making space for an open mid-range jumper. The Air force players switched to a full court press early on in this quarter which seemed to have worked as the Army players only scored 6 baskets in the quarter and the Air Force team took control of the game scoring another shot from downtown followed by 5 more consecutive baskets allowing them to take a comfortable lead for the first time during the game.
Half time : Army – 20 Air Force – 33
The Army players came back strong in the 3rd quarter scoring the first shot of the quarter which was followed by a shot from downtown whilst the Air force players were in favour of passing the ball around the perimeter looking for the open player to take a three pointer which wasn’t as successful as they hoped it would be as they couldn’t make their shots count. However the weak Army defence allowed the Air force players to keep a lead of 11 points as the deficit was only reduced by 2 points.
Air force took back control during the 4th quarter scoring first and coming in strong with a zone defensive strategy as they didn’t allow their opponents to have any opportunities at scoring but both teams lost the plot on their shots near the rim as the ball continued to bounce off. The Army players scored a few baskets in the last few minutes including the final shot of the game but it wasn’t enough to reduce the deficit as they trailed by 8 at the end of the final quarter.
Full time : Army – 52 Air force – 60
 triumphed over Army (Girls) 60-52.){kind=link}