Joes and HFC show their class at the Under 18 Schools Basketball Championship

The Under 18 Schools Basketball Championship came to a close successfully yesterday (8^th January), with Holy Family Convent bagging the win in the Girls’ category and St. Joseph’s College in the Boys’ category. 

The final matches of Divisions ‘A’ & ‘B’ and the Consolation Finals of Division ‘A’ were played off all throughout the day yesterday. The day’s proceedings started with Good Shepherd Convent winning against St. Joseph’s Girls’ School in the ‘A’ Division Girls’ consolations. [39:30]

D.S. Senanayake College secured the 3^rd place title in the ‘A’ Division Boys’ category playing against St. Peter’s College. [57:41] Later that day, Colombo International School played against BCI and secured the championship title in the ‘B’ Division Boys’ Finals. [72:54]

Girls’ Finals

Holy Family Convent secured a dominant 65-34 win against Lyceum International School, Wattala in the Girls’ Finals.

Right from the opening tip, Holy Family Convent had the upper hand and held it till the very last second. As the defending champions, they certainly entered the match with the attitude of a victor as they showed no mercy to the girl from LIS.

Dihini Dharmadasa and Nethmi De Zoysa started the score sheet for HFC & LIS respectively. The first half of the game was a bit tense than it was estimated to be, although HFC managed to get the lead from 3 points. The LIS defense did make an impact on the Familians in the first half of the game, but the combination of Binuthi Jayasinghe and Skipper Kishuri Reiss worked out perfectly for Holy Family Convent.

The third quarter was a complete letdown for LISW, given that they only managed to score 5 points while HFC scored 19. The HFC defense was outstanding from that point on, and the girls made no mistakes in allowing LISW to hit a basket to reduce the deficit.

Interestingly enough, HFC only made one three-pointer the entire game, which was enough to secure their victory. After scoring 18 additional points in the fourth quarter, Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya, clinched the Championship title in the Under 18 ‘A’ Division Girls’ category.

Most Valuable Player: Kishuri Reiss

Best Offensive Player: Dihini Dharmadasa

Best Defensive Player: Shahana Kumareshan

Boys’ Finals

In a thrilling final, St. Joseph’s College defeated Gateway College Colombo to win the Under 18 Boys’ ‘A’ Division category.

After the traditional jump ball, the Joes had the first possession of the ball which later turned into the first bucket in the match. Both quarters in the first half finished with Gateway College leading, making the first half of the game full of crowd-pleasing moments.

Both the teams played an excellent game in all sides of Basketball, in defense, offense and especially with the rebounds.

Both the teams deployed a man-to-man defense till the last 4 minutes of the game, and moved the press defense, which went sideways for Gateway College, Colombo. Despite the last quarter, Gateway College Colombo showed their utmost talent in every second in both offense and defense, especially the two lads who wore the jersey numbers 32 & 30 – Sharo Perera and Inas Iqbal.

Teams went into the half-time break with Gateway on the lead, 22:25.

However, the Joes turned the tables around in the third quarter. Back-to-back 3 pointers from Abhaya Gajamange and Charaka Perera got them into the lead and they were thereafter able to hold on to in till the last second of the game.

By swishing layups and nailing midrange shots, Abhagya Gajamange stopped Gateway College’s momentum, and the Josephians eventually found their groove.

With a comfortable lead of 10 points, St. Joseph’s College Colombo emerged the Champions in the Boys’ category of the Under 18 ‘A’ Division.

Most Valuable Player: Methika Jayasinghe

Best Offensive Player: Abhaya Gajamange

Best Defensive Player: Inas Iqbal