The Hindu : Sport / Basketball : Kerala, Maharashtra enter final

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 28, 2004

Sport

Sport - Basketball

Kerala, Maharashtra enter final

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG. 27. Host Kerala and Maharashtra entered the final in the girls' section of the 31st sub-junior National championship at the LNCPE indoor stadium here on Friday.

Both teams staged fine comebacks against their semifinal opponents and prevailed against all odds. Maharashtra trailed defending champion Chhattisgarh in the first three quarters before rallying ahead.

The gallant Maharashtra girls tied the scores at 46-all at the end of regular time and managed to hold their nerves in the extra-time to win 50-48.

Kerala managed to edge out last year's runner-up Uttar Pradesh 46-42 in a tempestuous and foul-ridden encounter.

The Kerala girls were initially at sea against their rivals who played a well-organised game.

Renu Maurya and Mansi Chaudhary broke away freely to score points for the U.P. side, which led 17-10 at the end of the first quarter. Led by the tall Stephy Nixon and Shija Joseph, Kerala put pressure on its rival with fast breaks but Uttar Pradesh managed to cling on to a five-point lead at the end of the first half.

The change of ends saw Kerala resort to a tight defensive game, which dried up the baskets for U.P. girls.

Uttar Pradesh's game became increasingly foul-ridden as Kerala piled on the pressure. But the free throw conversion of Kerala girls left a lot to be desired. Still the host managed to build a six-point lead at the end of the third quarter.

The U.P. coach Nav Pratan Dubey, protesting against the referee's decision, brought the game to a temporary halt by pulling out his team in the fourth quarter. Once UP came back Kerala managed to pull off a 46-42 victory.

The results (semifinals):

Girls: Maharashtra 50 (Shweda Mundada 10) bt Chattisgarh 48 (Manjeet Kaur 20, L. Deepa 12); Kerala 46 (Shija Joseph 17, Ashey Matthew 12) bt Uttar Pradesh 42 (Renu Maurya 16). — Our Sports Reporter

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