(ThePapare Basketball Championship 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka). The quarter finals of girl’s category kicked off earlier this evening with St. Joseph’s Nugegoda playing against Ave Maria Convent Negombo. Ave Maria failed to top their group matches which resulted in them facing St. Joseph’s Nugegoda the top team of the other group. Ave Maria had a tough game ahead of them read on to find out.
Pre Match – Quotes
“Ave Maria Coach: We are playing with a disadvantage of having 3 injured players and it’s definitely going to be a tough game for us but our players will give it their best shot nevertheless.”
“St. Joseph’s Nugegoda Coach: Although we have an experienced side we won’t take it easy on any team, basketball is a quick transition game and anything can happen so because of that we will be giving this match our 100%”
Match Report
The Josephians got first possession of the ball and opened the game with a shot from downtown. The girls from Ave Maria quickly moved into a zone defense to stop further offensive attempts by St. Joseph’s. However, they had no answer to the Josephian 3 pointers as they went in one after the other. It began to seem like a one sided affair as the girls from Ave Maria failed to take the ball past the St. Joseph’s half court press as the ball was either stolen off the dribble or intercepted which were quickly converted into a fast break opportunity by the Josephians. The second quarter was disastrous for the players from Ave Maria scoring only one basket during the entire 10 minutes.
Photo Album – TPBC17 | St. Joseph`s Girls School v Ave Maria Convent | QF 01
The girls from St. Joseph’s dominated the first half scoring more than 5 times their score securing a substantial lead as they went into lemons.
Half-time: St. Joseph’s Nugegoda – 46 Ave Maria Convent – 08
The second half was no different as the girls from Ave Maria struggled to keep up failing to secure rebounds which lost them crucial scoring opportunities. The Josephians capitalized on fast breaks and the gaps in their opponent’s defense to annihilate Ave Maria on the scoreboard as the deficit continued to grow larger. Towards the latter part of the game Ave Maria had no chance of turning things around and all they could do was reduce the deficit as much as possible before time ran out as St. Joseph’s dominated the court on both sides. Throughout the game, the girls from Ave Maria failed to score double digits in any of the quarters resulting in a land slide victory for St. Joseph’s.
Full-time: St. Joseph’s Nugegoda – 79 Ave Maria Convent – 15
Post-Match Quotes
The St. Joseph’s coach shared his thoughts about the match with ThePapare after their victory: “We were leading from the start but we never underestimated our opponents and focused mainly on our defense to increase the rhythm from match to match. The aggressive defense that we used helped us get the significant lead.”
