Josephian girls secure title

Under-17 'A' Division Basketball Championship:

Anuradha Abeysekera

St Joseph's Girls School, Nugegoda bagged the under-17 'A' division basketball championship for the second consecutive time beating Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya by 60-38 at their home courts on Tuesday.

Josephian Imesha Thathsarani who was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the tournament proved her excellence in the game by making highest contribution for her team with 26 points while her teammate Kavitha Poormina contributed with 12 points and was picked as the Best Offensive Player.

Anne Stephani also made valuable contribution for winners with 15 points. Familians grabbed their only special award when Yasara Siriwardana who scored 12 points in the final was awarded the Best Defensive Player award. Sanuli de Silva was the other best contributor for the Familians and scored 11 points.

Josephian girls dominated the game from the beginning and were leading 14-6 in the first quarter. They played with an excellent teamwork and were very strong in both attack and defence.

Familians tried their best to put resistance to the aggressive attack of their opponents in the following quarter and managed to restrict homesters to nine points while scoring seven points in the second quarter. But with the advantage of eight-point lead in the initial quarter, Nugegoda lasses posted a comfortable ten-point margin at half time (23-13).

Even though Familians fought hard to make inroads to the game, the strong Josephian girls maintained their lead and did not allow the opponents to overcome them at any stage of the match. Even in the third quarter they played their usual game and widen the gap by scoring 19 points against 14 from Familians (42-27).

Home team continued their attack in same fashion during the final quarter while visitors struggling to counter attack. It was an easy win for the Nugegoda team in the end as they restricted Familians to 11 points while adding 18 to their winning score to clinch the title with a 22-point margin (60-38).

Meanwhile in the consolation final for the third place, Good Shepherd Convent, Kotahena defeated Our Lady of Victory, Moratuwa in an exciting battle 52-41 after trailing behind seven points at half time (17-24).