The Hindu : Sport / Basketball : Kottayam stuns Alappuzha in a thriller

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Wednesday, Apr 16, 2008
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Kottayam stuns Alappuzha in a thriller

ALAPPUZHA: Kottayam overcame a 14-point deficit, pipped favourite Alappuzha 75-74 and entered the boys semifinals of the 32nd Kerala State junior basketball championship at the floodlit Municipal Stadium here on Tuesday evening.

Surprisingly, Kottayam’s saviour, Anandu Sugunan, was on the bench for the entire first quarter as host Alappuzha raced to a 14-point early lead. And when Anandu was brought in, in the next quarter, he played like a boy possessed.

He was everywhere. The playmaker did a fine distribution job and came up with baskets at crucial moments. He also had three three-pointers.

Confusion with colours

With both the teams turning out in the same colour, there was much confusion especially under the rebound boards. Alappuzha, virtually the Pulincunnu St. Joseph’s School boys who had won the bronze at the last Schools National League, was tipped to win the title here but towards the end the host turned out to be a desperate lot.

Ashin Xavier was the star for the host this evening topping the chart with 31 points, but when the going got tough in the dying seconds of the game, he failed to deliver, first delaying a drive and later muffing a basket.

Thrissur and last year’s runner-up Wynad also made the last-four grade in the boys’ section while Kottayam, Kollam, Kannur and Thrissur entered the semifinals in the girls’ section.

The results (quarterfinals):

Boys: Kottayam 75 (Anandu Sugunan 23, Mahesh Dad 10) bt Alappuzha 74 (Ashin Xavier 31); Thrissur 47 (Amal James 15, Amit Sebastian 10) bt Kozhikode 22; Wynad 64 (M.G. Vaisak 19, Sanil Antony 19, Sarath Mohan 11) bt Pathanamthitta 46 (Richard Baby 18, Jomon Jose 11).

Girls: Kottayam 29 (Ashey Mathew 8) bt Wynad 20; Kollam 46 (R.K. Smruthy 14, Stephy Nixon 13, P. Lijimol 13, Mubeena 9) bt Alappuzha 21 (Theresa 9); Kannur 44 (P.S. Neenumol 13, M.D. Lisha 9) bt Pathanamthitta 10; Thrissur 26 bt Ernakulam 2. — Principal Correspondent

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