ThePapare Basketball Championship consolation finals were concluded last evening after a couple days of postponement due to adverse weather conditions. S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia and AIS went head to head to decide the 2nd runner-up of the tournament.
Pre-Match Quotes
AIS Coach: “Since both teams are quite equally matched it will come down to who has the better endurance and stamina to decide the winner of the game today.”
S. Thomas’ College Coach: “We lost to AIS in the group matches but hopefully things will work out differently today since we’re focusing mainly on defense and rebounds to switch to a transition offense and control the game”
Match Report
AIS took first possession of the ball and managed to score the first basket of the game after a couple of attempts. S. Thomas’ immediately moved into a man to man defense to restrict the boys from AIS. The Thomians failed to secure crucial rebounds which would have given them second shot opportunities at scoring. This allowed Brent Thevakumar from AIS to increase the deficit further by leading the offensive plays for his team as the Thomians struggled to keep up with their opponents.
First-Quarter: AIS- 16 S. Thomas’- 8
During the second quarter of the game, the Thomians changed their defensive strategy and employed a full-court press, attempting to increase the pressure on the AIS offense and force turnovers. Although the players from S. Thomas’ did reduce the deficit, AIS managed to maintain control of the game capitalizing mainly on fast break opportunities to keep the lead. While both teams had a couple of chances near the line to score, the Thomians needed to focus on putting a stop to the AIS jump shots if they wanted to turn the tables on AIS as they trailed by 5 going into lemons.
Half-time: AIS- 29 S. Thomas’- 24
The Thomians managed to narrow AIS’ lead to a couple of points during the first few minutes of the quarter. AIS switched to a man to man defense in the third quarter and intercepted a couple of passes which were successfully converted into fast break opportunities, giving AIS their lead back. AIS made good use of their opportunities near the line and dominated the post on rebounds allowing them to maintain control as Brent Thevakumar continued to get consecutive shots leaving his team up by 6 points with 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Third-Quarter: AIS- 44 S. Thomas’ -38
The players from AIS had an advantage on the Thomians when it came to speed allowing them to get quick points and increase the deficit. Brent Thevakumar was the key player for AIS scoring a majority of the team’s points and setting up the offensive plays. S. Thomas’ capitalized on the opportunities near the line although it wasn’t enough to reduce the deficit further as the players from AIS switched to a half-court press and increased their lead further to 13 points thanks to the consecutive jump shots by Brent leaving the Thomians in the dust at the final buzzer.
Full-time: AIS- 63 S. Thomas’-50
The AIS Coach had this to say to ThePapare after the win: “Brent made the difference today which gave us an advantage thanks to his experience representing the nation which allowed us to win the game today.”
