Gateway wins All-Island Under-20 Basketball championship
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The victorious Gateway Under-20 cagers
Having reached the top four, along with Royal College, Maris Stella College and Jaffna Central College, Gateway completed a very successful season by winning the All-Island Schools Under-20 Basketball Championship, organised by the Ministry of Education. Before reaching the final stage, Gateway won the Western Province Championship.
The final round games were played in Kurunegala. The grand finale saw Gateway beating Maris Stella College, Negombo 67-64. The unbeaten Gateway team was challenged by the boys from Negombo from beginning to the end. At full time scores were tied at 55-55. During extra time, Gateway’s rising star, Mirtesh Thurairajah rose to the occasion with three 3-pointers to win the nail biting final with a score of 67-64.
Quite appropriately, Mirtesh was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament. At the semi-final, Gateway beat Jaffna Central 80-60 and in the quarter-final they beat Trinity College Kandy 59-46. In the Plate final Royal beat Jaffna Central to secure the overall third place.
At the Western Province Under-20 Boys Basketball Tournament, Gateway College beat Royal College 31-26 in the final and Maris Stella College, Negombo 51-50 in a nail-biting semi-final. In the quarter-final Gateway beat S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia 34-31.