Date:11/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/11/stories/2006051110962200.htm

Sport - Basketball

Easy for Karimnagar

Special Correspondent

JAGTIAL: Karimnagar boys trounced Adilabad 32-8 in group E of the Andhra Pradesh junior (under-18) inter-district basketball championships at the District Sports Authority (DSA) Mini Stadium court here on Wednesday.

Earlier, the host thrashed Mahabubnagar 38-8, Teja (14 points) and Mallaiah (8) being its prominent scorers.

In the evening, a string of `steals' enabled Guntur effect turnarounds and score with increasing frequency against Krishna for a 49-39 victory. Almost throughout the contest, the Guntur maintained a 10-point lead, thanks to Ch. Naveen Kumar finding the hoop mostly from the 45 angle area.

Tied 15-all half-way through their match, Ranga Reddy warded off a stiff challenge from Kurnool for a 42-38 verdict. A quartet of three-pointers by forward Srikanth, supplemented by pivot Varun's 11 points were largely responsible for keeping Kurnool at bay. For the loser, state player Mansoor's all-round attack ensured the winner wouldn't take things easy.

The four-day meet was formally inaugurated in the evening by T. Jeevan Reddy, MLA with the Municipal Chairman, G. Nagabhushanam, as guest of honour.

The results:

Boys: Group A: Hyderabad 39 (Vinay Singh 14) bt West Godavari 27 (Kumar Varma 13, Naresh 12). B: Guntur 49 (Ch. Naveen Kumar 20, Ch. Jaya Sharath 10) bt Krishna 39 (J. Mallikarjun Rao 10, B.S. Kiran 15). C: Ranga Reddy 42 (Srikanth 18, Varun 11) bt Kurnool 38 (Mansoor 15). D: Anantapur 28 (Satish 12, Arshad 10) bt Medak 2. E: Karimnagar 38 (Teja 14, Mallaiah 8) bt Mahabubnagar 8; Karimnagar 32 bt Adilabad 8.