The Hindu : Sport / Basketball : Ernakulam men in final

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Sunday, Dec 05, 2004

Sport

Sport - Basketball

Ernakulam men in final

By Our Sports Reporter

MANNUTHY, DEC. 4. Ernakulam men and Thiruvananthapuram women entered the finals in the 49th State senior basketball championships at the Veterinary College court here on Saturday.

Defending champion Ernakulam breezed past Kottayam in a one-sided men's semifinal. The experienced Ernakulam side packed too many guns for Kottayam. International Subash K. Shenoy once again played a stellar role in Ernakulam's win. But it was diminutive Sunny Thomas's speed that gave the cutting edge to Ernakulam's game today. By half-time Ernakulam had built a commanding 24 point lead and played leisurely in the second half to preserve its energy for the summit clash on Sunday.

Thiruvananthapuram women stormed into the final with a 63-31 win over Ernakulam. Captain P. Lajitha (28 points) fashioned Thiruvananthapuram's win with able support from Ambily Thomas (11 points) and Dollyamma George (11 points).

From the outset, the contest turned out to be a mismatch as Thiruvananthapuram players with their better skills and coordination turned the heat on their rivals. Lajitha proved to be a slippery customer for her marker as she time and again broke free to score points. Ernakulam hardly created a ripple as it failed to combine as a unit. Moreover, erratic shooting and poor rebound collection did not help its cause either. Thiruvananthapuram ran away with the match in the first quarter itself when it took a 13-point lead and then kept up the pressure to emerge the deserving winner.

The results:

Men (semifinal): Ernakulam 66 (Sunny Thomas 19, Joseph John 16, Subash K. Shenoy 13) bt Kottayam 35 (Monish Wilson 9).

Quarterfinals: Thiruvananthapuram 76 (Sony Mathew 26, Bobit Mathew 24, Shabu Kumar 16) bt Palakkad 46 (Shyam 13, Ajeesh 11); Thrissur 58 (Kiran M. Abic 25, P.B. Hareesh 17) bt Alappuzha 51 (Jerald P. Titus 19, Praveen 14); Kottayam 89 (Dibumon 29, Ginesh 19, Monish Wilson 17) bt Pathanamthitta 64 (Akbar 18, Mahesh 14, Vineeth Ravi Mathew 13).