The semi-final match of ThePapare Basketball Championship between St. Joseph’s Girls’ College Nugegoda and Presbyterian Girl’s School took place today at Good Shepherd Convent Kotahena.
The game started off with girls from St. Joseph’s getting the ball from the jump ball allowing them to take an early lead. Both teams were in favour of a zone defensive strategy but the Josephian one was the more concrete defence as any possible gap that could have been used to drive in was closed up, allowing them to keep control of the game and maintain their lead. A notable feat by both teams was that they were able to adapt well to play in the wet conditions that resulted from the rain.
First Quarter: St. Joseph’s Girls’ College – 09 Presbyterian Girls’ School – 02
The second quarter began with the girls from St. Joseph’s scoring first and continued to add 03 more consecutive shots which were the only points they scored during the quarter as a few bad passes cot them many shooting opportunities whereas the Presbyterian’s had many opportunities to score but their first shot connected only 5 minutes into the quarter which was also the only shot they made during the quarter.
Second Quarter: St. Joseph’s Girls’ College – 16 Presbyterian Girls’ School – 04
The third quarter started off with St. Joseph’s Girls scoring through a shooting foul and it saw the Presbyterians coming in with a whole new strategy for the game changing both their offensive and defensive strategies to reduce the deficit. The Presbyterians pursued a man to man full court press early on in the quarter but these strategies didn’t seem to pay off as well as expected as they still trailed by 17 points at the end of the third quarter.
Third Quarter: St. Joseph’s Girls’ College – 27 Presbyterian Girls’ School – 10
The final quarter started with the Presbyterians taking the first shot and then opting to try their luck around the perimeter in hopes of reducing the deficit in this last quarter but it didn’t seem to be their lucky day. Their poor performance in gaining offensive rebounds didn’t bring them any glory as they still trailed by 11 points at the end of the game.
Fourth Quarter: St. Joseph’s Girls’ College – 32 Presbyterian Girls’ School – 21
The coach of the winning team of St. Joseph’s had this to say speaking to ThePapare after their victory: “I think we played well today and we were well prepared but I think our performance during the second quarter wasn’t as well as I expected it to be due to the wet conditions of the court but we settled into the game in the third quarter and secured our place in the finals.”
Top Point Scorers:
Chalani Perera – 15 points (St. Joseph’s Girls’ College)
Nipuni Navodya – 10 points (Presbyterian Girls’ School)
