Thomians group Champs and Ananda group Runners up

The second day of the group B matches of ThePapare basketball Champions tournament took place today at St. Peter’s college and the following matches were played:

St. Sebastian’s College vs. Ananda College (Ananda won 44-28 )
S. Thomas’ College vs. Gateway College Kandy (S. Thomas’ won 46-32)
St. Peter’s College vs. St. Sebastian’s College (St. Peter’s won 50-34 )
Ananda College vs. Gateway College Kandy (Ananda won 47-32 )

St. Sebastian’s College vs. Ananda College

The first match for the day was St. Sebastian’s College playing against Ananda College in which Ananda started off the game getting the ball from the jump ball but wasn’t able to convert it successfully into a scoring opportunity. After a few attempts from both teams St. Sebastian’s was the first to score. It was a close game during the start but St. Sebastian’s took an early lead with a shot from downtown. The wet conditions of the court due to the rain didn’t make it easier for either  team to play as many shots were missed. Close to the end of the half Ananda finally settled in to the game and took a good lead of 11 points as St. Sebastian’s lost the plot with their rebounds.

Half time: Ananda College – 21 St. Sebastian’s College – 10

As the next half began both teams lost possession of the ball numerous times as many of their shots didn’t connect. The third quarter was a slow quarter for both teams as they both were only able to score a total of 7 points. The Anandians switched to a man to man defensive strategy to stop the Sebastians from driving in although this better defense did not make up for them losing the ball due to the ball slipping off their hands. St. Sebastian’s on the other hand used these opportunities to their advantage and reduced the lead greatly as the score was 17-25. Even with the difficulties of the conditions the Anandians maintained their lead with a few good passes allowing them to score near the net offsetting the opponent’s defense. The Anandians maintained their lead and won the game by 16 points.

Full time: Ananda College – 44 St. Sebastian’s College – 28

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S. Thomas’ College vs. Gateway College Kandy

The second match saw Gateway College Kandy take possession  from the jump ball but it was almost immediately stolen by S. Thomas’ and they were the first to score.  Gateway preferred taking mid-range jump shots rather than driving in yet many of these crucial shots were missed and the Thomians owned the early parts of this first half having a score of 14 to 0.

The players from S. Thomas’ disturbed the zone defense of the boys from Kandy with a few good passes going from player to player which allowed them to create this deficit. The latter part of the first half was when Gateway finally brought their A game and had complete control of the second quarter catching up the Thomians and reducing the lead to a mere 5 points during the second quarter by finally getting their jump shots in and scoring a couple shots from downtown. Gateway continued to take only jump shots as they struggled to penetrate the Thomian defense who closed up any gap that could have been used to drive in.

Half time: S. Thomas’ College – 21 Gateway College – 16

In the second half S. Thomas’ scored first which was one of few shots they made in the third quarter as the total they scored in the quarter was just 5 points where as Gateway took control of the game and took the lead for the first time.

The third quarter ended with the lads from Mount Lavinia trailing by 4. S. Thomas’ scored first in the final quarter as substitutions had been made and all the players in the team were rotated allowing them to regain their energy so that they can take back control of the game. This strategy seemed to have paid off as the Thomians did in fact take back the lead during the latter parts of this half. Gateway lost the plot as their coach left with a key player who needed medical attention. They lost many rebounds to the Thomians as they did not seem eager to recover from the jump shots they missed allowing the Thomians to win by a 14 points.

Full time: S. Thomas’ College – 46 Gateway College – 32

The captain of the S. Thomas’ team Adrian Gunewarane had this to say speaking to ThePapare after emerging as the group champs in ThePapare Basketball Champions Tournament: “We’re all really happy about becoming the group champs and we’re glad that all the efforts we put in as a team has paid off but there are still many more tough matches ahead of us as we look forward for the quarter finals.”

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St. Sebastian’s College vs. St. Peter’s College

The first evening match for the day was St. Sebastian’s College vs. St. Peter’s College. St. Sebastian’s started off the game gaining possession of the ball from the jump ball but was only able to score through a shooting foul. The beginning of the game was a strong start for the Sebastians as they worked the ball between all the players and scored the first few baskets but the Peterites easily beat the Sebastian defense by passing to the post player and taking the lead. St. Peter’s continued to penetrate the Sebastian defense and kept driving in whereas St. Sebastian’s missed many lay ups as their release wasn’t good enough to secure the basket. As St. Sebastian’s resorted to jump shots the Peterites switched to a man to man defense to stop these shots. St. Peter’s was able to get a comfortable lead as St. Sebastian’s lost focus on their defense and had no support when attempting to drive in losing many resulting rebounds.

Half time: St. Peter’s College – 34 St. Sebastian’s College – 12

During the second half it didn’t seem to be St. Sebastian’s best day as many of their shots seemed to roll off the rim and they only scored 2 baskets in the entire third quarter.

St. Peter’s on the other hand increased the lead by using a few screens to disrupt the man to man defense allowing the Peterites to drive in. St. Sebastian’s decided to pursue a full court press halfway through this half leaving their defense open near the rim yet they were able to reduce the lead significantly through a few fast breaks from their full court press.  It was however not enough as time ran out and it only reduced the deficit as St. Peter’s College walked away victorious.

Full time: St. Peter’s College – 50 St. Sebastian’s College 34

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Ananda College vs. Gateway College Kandy

Ananda College took on Gateway as Gateway gained an early lead from converting possession of the jump ball into a shot and continuing in that momentum to keep a small 4 point lead. No. 07 of Gateway Disura played a key role in this as it was his shots from downtown that gave them the lead. Gateway seemed to prefer shooting around the perimeter rather than driving in but this was soon countered by the Anandians by changing their defensive strategy which allowed them to not only catch up but take the lead by the end of the half. A couple fast breaks did the trick for the Anandians as it got them the upper hand on the game as the tables were turned and Gateway trailed by 5.

Half time: Ananda College – 22 Gateway College Kandy – 17

The second half started with Gateway College scoring first with their safe jump shots but the Anandians countered momentarily scoring a shot from downtown. Gateway employed a man to man defense during this half which fell through as the Anandians continued to drive in and draw the fouls. Gateway scored 4 consecutive baskets to end the half but it wasn’t enough as time ran out and all it did was reduce the point gap between the two teams as the deficit in the first half couldn’t be covered.

Full time: Ananda College – 47 Gateway College Kandy – 32

The Ananda coach speaking to ThePapare after their victory had this to say regarding their performance of the day:” We’re happy that we were able to win both matches today reassuring our place in the quarter finals and we’re eager to see who our opponents are going to be”

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