Josephians crowned Schools cager champs
View(s):St. Peter’s College 59-56, to clinch the Schools Under-20 Division ‘A’ Basketball Championship played at the
St. Joseph’s College Courts last weekend.
In a virtual Joe-Pete or Battle of the Saints encounter, the Josephians held their nerves to maintain a marginal lead throughout the game, which was vital for their important victory. By the end of the first quarter St. Joseph’s led by a narrow margin of 18-17, despite the Peterites fighting back to apply pressure on their opponents.
At halftime, St. Joseph’s went on to expand their lead by a healthy 37-30, before St. Peter’s bounced back at regular intervals after the resumption. Yet, the Josephians maintained their lead, and by the end of the third quarter they were 46-42 up against St. Peter’s, who succumbed to a 59-56 defeat in spite of their regular fight backs.
Standing (from left): Darren Bernard, Ovin Martino, Aaron Gerald, Adrian Wijayawardena, Damketh Dammalage, Chamindu Wijesinghe, Adrian Gunasekara, Methika Jayasinghe, Charaka Perera, Abhaya Gajamange Seated (from left): Roshan Randima (Coach), Hemal Fernando (Master in-Charge), Kavin de Almeida (Vice Captain), Rev. Fr. Ranjith Andradi (Rector, St. Joseph’s), Rev. Fr. Rohitha Rodrigo (Rector of St. Peter’s and President of SLSBA), Rev. Fr. Samesh Anthony (Prefect of Games, St. Joseph’s), Maneth Perera (Captain), Shane Daniel (Coach)
Methika Jayasinghe of
St. Joseph’s, who scored 19 points in the final, was aptly named the Most Valuable Player, while his team mate Abhaya Gajamange won the Best Defensive Player award. Ayyoob Shiham of St. Peter’s was rewarded with the Best Offensive Player award for his contribution to the team.
In the quarter-finals, St. Joseph’s beat Ananda College 63-34 and then went on to defeat Wesley College 94-57 in the semi-final. The tournament is annually conducted by Sri Lanka Schools Basketball Association, an affiliation of Sri Lanka Basketball Federation.
The Josephians have been dominating schools basketball since 2001, winning several championships at provincial and national levels. They also recently won the Under-20 Zonal Tournament for Colombo North. The team was led by Maneth Perera, who was well supported by his deputy Kavin de Almeida.
Apart from the skipper and deputy skipper the victorious
St. Joseph’s cager team included Abhaya Gajamange, Charaka Perera, Adrian Gunasekara, Methika Jayasinghe, Adrian Wijayawardena, Darren Bernard, Chamindu Wijesinga, Damketh Dammalage, Aaron Gerald and Ovin Martino.
