The Hindu : Sport / Basketball : Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram retain titles

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 06, 2004

Sport

Sport - Basketball

Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram retain titles

By Our Sports Reporter

THRISSUR, DEC. 5. Ernakulam men and Thiruvananthapuram women retained the titles in the 49th State Senior basketball championship at the Veterinary College court here on Sunday.

Ernakulam survived a scare from host Thrissur, which egged on by a vociferous crowd, went down fighting. Ernakulam won 95-75 after leading 50-48 at half-time. The difference between the two sides was the presence of towering international Subash K. Shenoy in Ernakulam's rank. Shenoy scored 41 crucial points to carry his side to victory.

However, at the start it appeared to be a one-sided contest as Ernakulam, playing with its trademark flourish, had its rival gasping and led 31-15 at the end of the first quarter. But Thrissur gradually crawled back into the match as its shooting improved steadily. Ernakulam, which had successfully employed a tight zonal defence in the first quarter, could not maintain its pressure in the second quarter. Thrissur narrowed the lead to two points and raised visions of an upset. But Shenoy, Sunny Thomas and Joseph John, regained their touch at the right time as Ernakulam dominated the proceedings in the third and fourth quarters to win the title for the third consecutive year.

Thiruvananthapuram retained the women's title after surviving some anxious moments from Kannur to win 57-44. The Kannur side, which is virtually the Brennen College side, gave Thiruvananthapuram a run for its money in the first quarter and briefly held the lead. With tight zonal defence and effective shooting, Thrissur rattled its rival early. But Thiruvananthapuram regrouped and levelled the scores at 16-all at the end of the first quarter. KSEB star Ligi George was instrumental in Thiruvananthapuram's comeback as she was consistent with her shooting. Ligi scored majority of the points in the second quarter as Thiruvananthapuram took a 14-point lead at the break. With Lajitha too finding her touch Kannur faded away.

Thiruvananthapuram slackened the pace a bit in the second half and played percentage game to beat back the challenge of Kannur.

The results:

Men (final): Ernakulam 95 (Subash K. Shenoy 41, Sunny Thomas 21, Joseph John 19) bt Thrissur 75 (Hareesh 34, Manoj 22, Gopal 13). Loser's final: Thiruvananthapuram 63 (Abhilash 24, Bobit Mathew 20) bt Kottayam 61 (Monish Wilson 19, Ginesh 14). Semifinal: Thrissur 84 (Kiran M. Abic 20, Manoj 13) bt Thiruvananthapuram 83 (Bobit Mathew 35, Shabu Kumar 15, Sony Mathew 12, Abhilash 11).

Women (final): Thiruvananthapuram 57 (Ligi George 18, P. Lajitha 13) bt Kannur 44 (M. Beena 21, Shijimol K. Sunny 12). Loser's final: Thrissur 55 (Lisa Rani 21, Ligi Peter 18) bt Ernakulam 36. Semifinal: Kannur 57 (M. Beena 30, Shijimol K. Sunny 10) bt Thrissur 39 (Liza Rani 14).

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport