Joes stumble to a wobbly victory
View(s):By David Stephens
St. Joseph’s College almost squandered a hefty lead, which at times swelled to nearly 20 points, as they were forced to dig deep to produce a 46-41 victory against a resilient St. Anthony’s College Wattala, in their All Island ‘A’ Division Under 17 match, played at the Royal College Courts yesterday.
As the game wore on, St. Anthony’s upped their defensive intensity but ultimately it was to no avail. Pic by Amila Gamage
The Joes got off to a commanding start, employing stifling defense to annex the basket with an iron barrier. Despite their best efforts, St. Anthony’s were simply unable to break the shackles and could only register their first points after St. Joseph’s had already scored 12.
Mayantha Annesley, who top-scored for the winners with 17 points, was lethal from beyond the three-point arc as well as in the paint, where he constantly stole easy layups. By the time the first quarter drew to a close, with St. Joseph’s leading 14-4, the Antonians were staring down the barrel.
They did little to address their offensive and defensive woes in the second quarter as Prasanga Wethasinghe (16), along with his Josephian teammates, cashed in on the scoring party. With the scoreboard reading 21-7 at halftime, St. Anthony’s came out for the third quarter with shoulders slumped, and their play reflected this negative mindset, as they piled on a string of errors and pilfered a host of straightforward scoring opportunities.
Going into the fourth and final quarter with the score 32-20, the writing truly seemed on the wall for St. Anthony’s. However, they refused to read it.
Spectacularly, they began to fight their way back into the match, using increased energy and improved execution to force St. Joseph’s into silly errors before unleashing an offensive onslaught.
It was St. Joseph’s turn to look clueless, as the Antonians stunningly pulled things back to 38-33. As the Joes began to get jittery about a potential upset, Mayantha reeled off a couple of quick shots late in the fourth to thrust his side out of danger and towards a wobbly victory. More matches will be played today at Royal College, St. Sebastian’s College, Maris Stella College and St. Peter’s College. Matches will be at held at 7.30 a.m., 2.30 p.m. and 4.00 p.m.
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