The Hindu : Sport / Basketball : Kollam women enter final

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 27, 2006
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Kollam women enter final

Manjeri: Kollam withstood a strong challenge from Thrissur and entered the women's final of the State Senior basketall championship at the GBHSS floodlit court on Sunday.

Thrissur, which won a close quarterfinal match against Kannur Saturday, ran out of steam in the last quarter and lost 55-75. Till the last quarter it was an engrossing encounter with Thrissur giving Kollam a run for its money. Thrissur started on a positive note putting pressure on its rival with neat passes and fine finish.

But Kollam reorganised its defense in the second quarter and with fine marking was able to keep the points down. Kollam scored points regularly with fast moves. But Thrissur like a big serving tennis player was able to keep its rival on its toes by scoring three pointers at regular intervals. Ligi Peter and Merlin Baby were always dangerous with their long rangers.

The match was tantalizingly poised at the end of the third quarter with Kollam leading 49-44. Thrissur started the fourth quarter in style and was just a point behind its rival when its game started slipping down the incline. Kollam cashed on to some erratic passing and uncharacteristic fumbles from its rivals to nail crucial baskets. Kollam also improved its rebound collection in the last quarter and left nothing to chance and galloped to a fine win.

Idukki men subdued Pathanamthitta 59-39 to enter the final. Pathanamthitta started promisingly but faded out as Idukki's experienced stars turned on the heat. However, Pathanamthitta enjoyed its spells of dominance especially in the first quarter when it led 16-14. But part of it could be attributed to the absence of Idukki's Monish Wilson who was injured. But Monish Wilson returned in the second quarter to change the complexion of the match.

Monish was effective in defence particularly in his rebound collection. He also lent teeth to Idukki attacks and scored crucial baskets to scuttle any hopes of its rival. For Pathanamthitta Shinto George (15) and Sinumon Augustine (15) once again impressed and did the bulk of the scoring.

The results: Men (semifinals): Idukki 59 (Monish Wilson 20, Vijobi Vakkachan 12) bt Pathanamthitta 39 (Shinumon Augustine 15, Shinto George 15).

Quarterfinals: Ernakulam 81 (Santhosh John 20, Joe Antony 15, Jiji Abraham 13) bt Kozhikode 55 (Nibin Joseph 14).

Thiruvananthapuram 58 (S. Dipu 14, Vineeth Ravi 12) bt Wayanad 37 Women (semifinals): Kollam 75 (P. Lijimol 23, K.K. Sushma 14) bt Thrissur 55 (Greeshma Varghese 15, Ligi Peter 13, Merlin Baby 13). Quarterfinals: Thrissur 62 (Ligi Peter 20, K.R. Neethu 13) bt Kannur 61 (Soma Joseph 26, Deepa Mathew 12).

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