S.Thomas` College v Ananda College
The Thomians gained possession off the jump ball but it was not held for long as the Anandians stole it and were the first to score with a shot from downtown. During the first quarter, Ananda College maintained a small lead as they were fast to gain the offensive rebounds giving themselves more opportunities to get the shot in. However in the latter part of the first half the Thomians finally settled down and took control of the game to end the half with a nine-point lead.
Half time: S. Thomas’ College – 29 Ananda College – 20
As the second half began the Anandians came back strong working the ball more and scoring three consecutive shots with the help of a few assists. Ananda was able to outscore the Thomians during the early part of the second half as the players from S. Thomas’ failed to finish strong near the rim.
Thomians stun Peterites; Gateway Kandy registers maiden win
Ananda resorted to a full court press during the last few minutes of the game in hope of reducing the small point difference between the teams but it wasn’t enough to win them the game as S. Thomas’ squeezed through with a 3-point difference.
Full time: S. Thomas’ College – 49 Ananda College – 46
The S. Thomas’ College captain Adrian Gunawardane speaking to ThePapare.com
“We’re happy about the two wins we’ve got so far and I think everyone played well and did their best and didn’t have too many mistakes. We’re also looking forward for the next two matches and we hope we can be the group champions.”
Top Point Scorers
- Dilruk Mithree – 12 points (Ananda College)
- Adrian Gunawardane – 11 points (S. Thomas’ College)
St.Peter`s College – Colombo v Gateway College – Kandy
St. Peters won the jump ball start but it was overturned by GCK momentarily as they drew first blood. Hosts took an early lead as Gateway wasn’t very eager to get the offensive rebounds and lost possession. Yet it was soon reduced by a couple shots from downtown from Disura. The Peterites used a zone defense strategy to keep their opponents out of danger zone. It was brought to full value as the home team squared the game at lemons.
Half time: St. Peter’s College – 24 Gateway College Kandy – 24
The second half started with St. Peter’s scoring first and switching to a man to man defense. Hosts were on top of the game. The players from Gateway decided to switch to a full court press to increase the defensive pressure but the lack of rebounds made it difficult for them to take control of the game and in turn it lost them the game.
Full time: St. Peter’s College – 64 Gateway College Kandy – 50
The coach of St. Peters College had this to say speaking to ThePapare.com
“We played today with our second and third row players as 3 of the key players were out with injuries and needed to save them for the deciding match. I think my team finally settled into the game after the second half even though they struggled to play with the heat they were somehow able to win.”
Top Point Scorers
- Rajintha Brian – 15 points (St. Peter’s College)
- Disura Dissanayak – 17 points (Gateway College Kandy)
Photos: ThePapare Basketball Championship 2016 – Group B (09/07/2016)
S.Thomas` College v St. Sebastian`s College
Thomas got possession of the ball from the jump ball and used it to their advantage scoring first with a shot from downtown. SSC struggled with finishing their shots near the rim as many of them seemed to roll off and failed at obtaining the offensive rebounds allowing the Thomians to hold a comfortable lead throughout the first half.
Half time: S. Thomas’ College – 30 St.Sebestian`s College – 23
The second half started with STC scoring first and increasing their lead with good use of the turnovers. The Sebastians coul not penetrate through the Thomian defense and was forced to take jump shots of which they failed at gaining the offensive rebounds allowing the Thomians to increase their lead further. Halfway through the second half, SSC employed a half court press to stop the Thomians from scoring although this strategy did not work as the Thomian team had complete control of the game outscoring St. Sebaastian’s by 10 points during the 3rd quarter.
Bens out-do Gateway in two extra time periods
The Thomian starategy of rotating all 5 players allowed their key players to have the stamina to seal the victory as this allowed them to obtain the rebound and take best use of the opportunities as none of the players were worn out. At the very end SSC resorted to a full court press which did the trick as SSC was able to score just as much as the Thomians did during the last quarter but it wasn’t enough to win it for them as the point difference was too large. S. Thomas’ won the match by 17 points.
Full time: S. Thomas’ College – 60 St.Sebestian`s College – 43
Top Point Scorers
- Shane Kariyawasam/Naveen Akash – 10 points (SSC)
- Shevan Perera – 15 points (STC)
Ananda College v St. Peter’s College
Ananda College took possession of the ball from the start through the jump ball and converted it successfully scoring the first point for the game. During the early first half the Anandians had a strong zone defensive strategy. This coupled with the eagerness to obtain the rebound allowed them to take an early lead and take control of the game. During the latter part of the first half, the Anandians maintained this lead as they used the turnovers to their benefit by scoring through a couple fast breaks as the Peterites couldn’t keep up with them. The Peterites had quite a few opportunities of scoring through shooting fouls during this half although they weren’t used very well as many of these crucial shots which would have given them the lead were missed.
Half time: Ananda College – 26 St. Peter’s College – 14
The Anandians were the first to score during the second half and this momentum was continued as they got 3 more shots in consecutively. Although the home team didn’t allow them to have complete control during this half as they reduced the lead significantly down to just 6 points at one point during the match by getting in a few shots from downtown. It seemed that having the home field advantage helped the Peterites in reducing the lead.
The Peterites employed a man to man defensive strategy in an attempt to reduce the Anandians from driving in which was quite successful as during the latter part of this half the Peterites had complete control of the game and outscored the visitors during the final quarter. The Peterites decided to use a half court press during the last few minutes of this half which was one of the reasons for them being able to outscore the Anandians, although it wasn’t enough as the visitors were able to maintain the comfortable lead they had got in the previous quarters and won the match by 10 points.
Full time: Ananda College – 56 St. Peter’s College – 46
The Ananda coach spoke to ThePapare.com after the match
“We were disappointed that we lost in the morning but I think that made the players play better in the evening because there was now more motivation to somehow make it to the quarter finals and I hope we can win the next two matches and make it to the quarters.”
Top point scorer of the match
- Lakshan Udawana – 12 points (St. Peter’s College)
- Yeshan Saharsa – 16 points (Ananda College)
