Sport - Basketball

Chhattisgarh girls make it to final

ANANTAPUR: The Chhattisgarh girls got the better of Kerala 74-49 to enter the final of the junior National basketball championships at the District Sports Authority stadium court here on Monday. At half-time they led 31-28.

With few tall players, both sides resorted to speed in furthering their cause, the focus more on the low post area. Interestingly, Kerala was ahead in the first quarter 16-15 but presently its weaknesses began to show.

The early enterprise the southern side displayed was no more to be seen as the contest progressed. For instance, its porous defence afforded easy access to the rival’s fleet-footed forwards, whose attacking forays largely went unchecked.

International Pushpa proved to be an asset. Be it in ball-handling, or taking tries from outside the semi-circle or in doggedly defending her side’s backboard, containing her was a task Kerala was quite unequal to. She set the tempo for an aggressive attack, attempt after attempt pounding the Kerala board.

On the rebounds too, it was Chhattisgarh which was more on the mark. So was the holder’s defence a lot more resilient.

On the bench too, its riches spilt over, the entire starting five rested in the final quarter, what with a sizeable lead to rest their oars on.

The trio of Anu K.S., Seena Joseph and Ashey kept up their good work from their earlier outings. Only that backing for their efforts was hard to come by. That the squad as a whole wasn’t playing at its prime was obvious, evidence of which was the many passes that went astray.

The scores: Girls: semifinal: Chhattisgarh 74 (M. Pushpa 23, Manjeet 17, Aruna 12) bt Kerala 49 (Seena 12, Ashey 12, Anu K.S. 9). — Special Correspondent