The morning session of day 2 in the Sri Lanka Schools Girls Under 17 A Division Basketball Tournament started with what was supposed to be an exciting game turning out to be very one sided, at the Lyceum Wattala Basketball Court between St. Joseph’s Girls School and the tournament host Lyceum International School Wattala.
In the second match of the morning session Good Shepard Convent went up against St. Bridget’s Convent in a close encounter.
St. Joseph’s Girls School v Lyceum International School Wattala
The morning session started off with a possible final between St. Joseph’s Girls School and Lyceum International School. Both schools started off evenly in the first quarter with the scores reading 10 all. Midway thru the quarter Lyceum unleashed the Hazeena and Lubna offensive and defensive combination, landing a flurry of shots and making defensive stops leaving St. Joseph’s a little margin of error. At the end of the first half the scores read 23 points to 11 points in favour of Lyceum International.
With the second half commencing the momentum had not shifted as Lyceum International kept the pressure on their opponents. Things were not going in favour of St. Joseph’s as they started missing shots and giving away easy shots at the basket. The only silver lining for the girls from Nugegoda was Hazeena Abdul getting fouled out, however the damage had already been inflicted as the closing moments drew near, with Lyceum sealing the win 48 points to 32 points.
At the post match interview, the losing coach Sivashakthi Selvaraja gleefully stated “we only have ourselves to blame for this loss but we will bounce back in the next 2 games and make sure we qualify for the finals”. He further added “I am going to make sure that my players don’t make the same mistakes nor get over confident”.
Summary
Half Time – St. Joseph’s 11 – 23 Lyceum International
Full Time – St. Joseph’s 32 – 48 Lyceum International
Top Scorers
St. Joseph’s Girls School – 17 points Taniya Perera, 10 points H.K. Thisari
Lyceum International School – 18 points Hazeena Abdul, 10 points Lubna Morseth
Good Shepard Convent v St. Bridget’s Convent
The second match of the morning session was penned down as an even affair as Good Shepard was looking for their second win and St. Bridget’s was looking for their first win. With the game underway things were poised for a text book ending for basketball enthusiasts as momentum was shifting from one side to the other. The only thing separating both teams was a 4-0 scoring run by Good Shepard at the end of the first half leaving the score board reading 23 points to 19 points in favour of Good Shepard.
The second half started with the same pace as both teams kept trading points keeping the game alive. St. Bridget’s sensing that this could be their first win in the tournament didn’t hold anything back. At the dying moments coach Randima of St. Bridget’s should be given credit for keeping his players calm and to make sure they sealed the win and keep their hopes up to stay in the tournament. With the final buzzer sounding off and the scoreboard read 52 points to 40 points in favour of St. Bridget’s Convent and the tournament is just heating up.
Summary
Half Time – Good Shepard 23 – 19 St. Bridget’s
Full Time – Good Shepard 40 – 52 St. Bridget’s
Top Scorers
Good Shepard Convent – 18 points Hansini, 9 points Tharushi
St. Bridget’s Convent – 21 points Michelle Kotagoda, 13 points Thevni Ranasinghe
