Ananda clinches cager title
Ananda College Colombo emerged champions at the All-Island Under-19 Division ‘B’ Basketball Championship, beating much-fancied Gateway International School 63-53 in the final. The thrilling final took place on October 17 at the Ananda College court in Colombo.
The Anandians dominated the first quarter to lead 16-9, but Gateway bounced back to cut down the deficit in the second quarter after claiming the second phase at 18-14. However, at halftime the Anandians led 30-27.
Gateway further drowned Ananda’s hopes as the home team was given a torrid time by the visitors who secured the third quarter by 20-11. By the time the final quarter kicked off Gateway was well ahead by 47-41 and were on their way to a certain win until Ananda staged a gallant comeback. The home team scored one point after another as they thrashed Gateway in the fourth quarter by a clinical margin of 22-7 to seal the victory by 10 points.
Avishka Siriwardana scored 27 points for Ananda while Melantha Janz of Gateway, who scored 28 points, was the top scorer of the game.
Ananda’s top scorer Siriwardana was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the game while his team mate Edeepa Samarasekara was picked as the Most Defensive Player. Gateway’s Melantha Janz was awarded the trophy for the Most Offensive Player.
On their way to the final Ananda beat Isipathana by 58-46 and De LaSalle College by 81-57. In the pre-quarterfinals they thrashed the British School of Colombo by a staggering 76-36 and went on to beat Joseph Vaz by 82-50 in the quarterfinal. In the semi-final they faced Trinity College Kandy only to score a comfortable victory at 69-26. – NA
The Ananda team (Standing from left): Sachin Wijayasinghe, Missaka Munasinghe, Nisal Balasuriya, Vimukthi Ekanayake, Vimukthi Illangasinghe (Asst. Coach), Edeepa Samarasekara (Captain), Buddhika Kumudapperuma (Coach), Avishka Siriwardana (Vice Captain), Muditha Gunasekara, Sanju Jayaratne, Dilka Sakuranga, Dushan Wanaguru, Yohan Vithange. Squatting (from left): Wanjitha Wihanage, Nipun Ekanayake, Naveen Dinujaya, Jeewantha Krishan, Lakshan Kavinda
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