Josephians clinch Under 13 cager title

Angu RAJENDRAN

The champion St Joseph’s Under 13 basketball team

A thousand shots a day helped us turn the tables on Gateway College, said the jubilant St Joseph's Under 13 team players after their victorious final of the North Zone Under 13 basketball championships conducted by Sri Lanka Schools Basketball Association at Ananda College.

St Joseph's who went into the finals as the underdogs having lost to Gateway in a preliminary round match 32-45 played with confidence this time around. They were determined not to make the mistakes that they had made earlier.

Although Gateway took a narrow lead at the end of the first quarter 10-8, the second quarter determined the final result. While the tall Josephians Nathosh Wijendran and Charen Anthony and Dion collected the offensive rebounds and converted them to baskets, their two shorter players blocked Gateway's giant Melantha Jansz from getting the ball by defending in front of him.

The Josephians took advantage of the slight over confidence of the Gateway boys and took the upper hand to win a very closely fought match 30-27. At half time, Josephians led 17-11. Coach Shane Romesh of St Joseph's Under 13 team very modestly says 'My boys played as a unit and so they won. They deserved to win. Charen Anthony ball handler for the Josephians was declared the Most Valuable Player while Nathosh Wijendran of St Joseph's and Melantha Jansz of Gateway College were adjudged the Best Defensive and Best Offensive Players.