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Smruthi stars as Kollam triumphs

Principal Correspondent

ALAPPUZHA: As she drove in strongly, there was none to stop her. She was solid in defence and a smart star in offence.

R.K. Smruthi played an aggressive all-round game as Kollam won its maiden girls’ title in the State junior basketball championship at the floodlit Municipal Stadium here on Thursday.

Kollam dethroned Kottayam 48-39, a triumph that dashed the defending champion’s hopes of completing a hat-trick.

With the tall centre Stephy Nixon keeping her rival number Ashey Mathew on a tight leash and Smruthi marking the Kottayam danger girl Shija Joseph shrewdly, the champion began to choke soon after the start.

Kollam raced away to an 11-2 lead within the first few minutes with Smruthi scoring almost all the baskets.

Stephy, the championship’s tallest player who was off-colour in the last few games, also came up with an improved display with the rebounds.

The strong first-quarter cushion, a nine-point advantage, stood Kollam in good stead throughout the game for the other three sessions were much closer.

Shija Joseph, who skippered Kerala to the youth National title in Lucknow early this year, led the Kottayam fight back after the break with a solid performance.

Scoring spree

Fast on feet and an artful dodger through the defensive maze, Shija was on a scoring spree.

With the Kollam stars, Smruthi and Stephy adding on fouls, they could do little to stop her.

Towards the end, Kottayam’s Ashey, Kollam’s Stephy and Smruthi made their exit with five fouls and the last few seconds were played without the big names. But Kollam’s good lead saw it through.

“Last year, we had a better team but they played badly. This year, our girls have made up,” Rajan David, the Kollam coach, said.

“Smruthi made all the difference today and our strong defence was our forte.”

Later, Thrissur, with the majority of its players from Irinjalakuda’s Don Bosco School, defeated Kottayam 72-60 to bag the boys’ title.

Thrissur’s Amal James and Kollam’s R.K. Smruthi were named as the championship’s best players.

The results: Boys: F inal: Thrissur 72 (Amal James 28, Arjun Krishna 20) bt Kottayam 60 (Jobin Varghese 15, Aby Sony 11); Third place: Malappuram 44 (S. Padmagirish 14, Basil Philip 10) bt Wynad 37 (Sanil Antony 17, Sarath Mohan 10).

Girls: Final: Kollam 48 (R.K. Smruthi 18, P. Lijimol 9, Libiya Varghese 9) bt Kottayam 39 (Shija Joseph 18); Third place: Kannur 58 (P.S. Neenamol 18, Soniya Joy 16, M. Athira 11) bt Thrissur 47 (Raisa Elias 12, Griya Susan Varghese 12, Merlin Baby 12).

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