The B division men’s final of the 10th Mercantile Services Basketball Knockout Championship was played yesterday at Hendry Pedris Basketball Complex. John Keels Holdings emerged victorious beating Sri Lankan Airlines when the score board read 56-46 at full time.
The game commenced seven o` clock on the dot with the traditional jump-ball start. SLA failed to convert the first possession into points and rebounding the ball Lakshan Samarasinghe dashed through to the other end and drew in defenders when he off loaded the ball to Thushan who was on the post to draw first blood. Lakshan settling himself early in the game shot two shots outside the arc and helped JKH to maintain an eight-zero run for five minutes. At one point Sri Lankan Airlines had many possessions where they could have even gone on to square the game but they continued to fail to connect the shots. Both the teams were playing a sagging man-to-man defense. JKH was on top of the rebounds and it was a fabulous day in the office for Thushan Dharmasena. A bad shot selection from the other end of the court saw JKH led the game 14-05 at the end of the first quarter.
SLA was in desperate need to settle themselves with a proper plan of offense at the start of the second quarter. At a point it felt as it was too much passing from the lads and it led them to attempt shots out of the ordinary which is why they failed. Lakshan Samarasinghe shifting the gears down from his normal game, held the control of the game and played smart minutes. Thushan was JKH`s trump card and Lakshan used him wisely isolating him on top of the court and giving his freedom to take the shot. Andre Jayakody did have the potential of out-smarting the opposition but Rashmika and Thushan did well in their defense to stop him. SLA scored seven points in the quarter while JKH scored seventeen points in the quarter and paved the way towards victory.
Half Time – John Keels Holdings – 31 Sri Lanka Airlines – 12
SLA started the party in the second half of the game with a mid-range jumper to close the deficit by fifteen points. A shaky defense by the JKH allowed SLA to score seventeen points which kind of bought them back to the game but the early lead helped them to hold on. The SLA was missing a vital point; they needed to come up with a proper play in offense but instead they were just taking odd shots around the arc which did not help them to close down the lead. On the other hand JKH was sticking to the basics of the game and played a pass and cut play which helped them to score eleven points in the quarter. Even though SLA did the most of the scoring in the quarter JKH still lead the game 42-29 at the end.
The final ten minutes of the game commenced and JKH tightened the screws in their defense, Thushan rebounded many miss calculated shots which gave them a second chance at the basket. With no proper rebounds and a tight defense stopping JKH, was bit out for the cards for SLA lads. It was simple factor of continuing the momentum once you score a couple of shots but it was unfortunate to witness that it did not happen from the SLA outfit. Thushan Daharmasena was the highest scorer; scoring twenty two points in the game and Rajapaksha scored seventeen points in the game for the SLA lads. JKH coming up with a proper plan in both defense and offence sealed the game at full time.
Full time – John Keels Holdings -56 Sri Lankan Airlines – 46
