67th Junior National Basketball Championship: Day 7
67th Junior National Basketball Championship: Day 7
Puducherry, 7th May 2016: The first half of the day saw classification (i.e. placement) matches in both the boys and girls sections, but it was the much awaited second half of semifinal action that had everybody excited, here on day 7 of the 67th Junior National Basketball Championship, Puducherry. Two undefeated teams, Delhi and Chhattisgarh (both 4-0 after the league stages), were upset by Kerala and Tamil Nadu respectively, while this year’s favorites, Karnataka girls continued their undefeated run into the finals.
Semi- Finals #1
Kerala boys surprise Delhi
The first semi-final was played between Delhi (4-0) and Kerala (3-1). Both the teams had a good league records, and won their quarter-finals with ease, which made the match-up exciting top watch. Vishal of Delhi, who is one of the highest scoring players in the tournament, exploded in the first quarter to give his team a huge lead. They were able to maintain and build the lead up to 14 points, till the end of the third quarter. In the beginning of the fourth, Kerala decided to employ their full court press in order to erase their huge deficit. Kerala was able to snatch the lead in the last one minute to steal this one from Delhi.
Kerala (red) against Delhi (silver)
Semi- Finals #2
Tamil Nadu girls stun defending champions Chhattisgarh
In the second game of the evening, Tamil Nadu (2-2) took on defending champions and favorites Chhattisgarh (4-0). Chhattisgarh had a good first half as they were able to score well from behind the three point line and they were leading right up until the last minute. In the final 60 seconds, Avanti of Tamil Nadu stepped up her game on both ends of the floor to help Tamil Nadu equalize and push the game to overtime. Tamil Nadu stayed composed with their ball possession and executed excellently as they were able to exact revenge on Chhattisgarh for their group stage loss, and seal a spot for themselves in the finals.
Tamil Nadu (blue) against Chhattisgarh (yellow)
Semi- Finals #3
Karnataka girls beat Maharashtra
The third game of the evening was played between Karnataka who were still undefeated in this tournament, and Maharashtra, who beat Haryana in their quarter-finals match. It was a neck and neck encounter between the two teams. Maharashtra came in with a good defensive game plan as they were able to limit Karnataka’s senior international star Bhandavya in the first two quarters. Bhoomika stepped up in her absence as she started converting her chances in the third quarter, giving Bhandavya breathing space from Maharashtra’s pressure defence. Once Bhandavya finally got the opportunity in the fourth quarter, without wasting much time she made all her plays count to take over late in the fourth quarter.
Bhandavya of Karnataka (red) fades away against Maharasthra (white)
Semi- Finals #4
Tamil Nadu survive Haryana scare
In the last semi-final game of the evening, defending champions Tamil Nadu led at the end of each of the first three quarters, before a late resurgence by Haryana threatened to derail their quest for a repeat. Haryana (4-0) had beaten Tamil Nadu (2-2) in the league rounds, and the confidence kept them in the hunt throughout. However, Tamil Nadu’s Hari Ram led from the front yet again with 32 points, to grant the southerners the 83-79 win.
Day 7 Results- Upto 8: 00 PM
Semi Finals
Boys
Kerala 72 (Prem 28, M Shiras 14) bt Delhi 68 (Rachit 18, Vishal 17, Hansraj 12) [10-14, 19-16, 8-21, 35-15]
Tamil Nadu 83 (Hari Ram 32, Daniel 20, Bala 17) bt Haryana 79 (Sonu 18, Deepak 17, Deepak 10) [18-12, 24-23, 19-18, 23-25]
Girls
Tamil Nadu 63 (Avanti 18, Ishwarya 15) bt Chhattisgarh 57 (Riya 17, Gulabsha 14) [14-20, 12-22, 13-8, 15-4, 9-3]
Karnataka 73 (Bhandavya 24, Bhoomika 13) bt Maharashtra 63 (Shreema 16, Neha 15) [13-16, 25-21, 20-14, 15-12]
Classification match 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th*
*Winning teams will play the 5th-6th match tomorrow; while the losing teams will play the 7th-8th match
Boys
Punjab 62 (Ajit 11, Rahul 10) bt Rajasthan 46 (Abbas 19) [8-6, 14-17, 30-14, 10-9]
Chandigarh 103 (Amit 32) bt Maharashtra 92 (Aaron 21, Sayyad 18) [27-24, 24-13, 21-16, 31-39]
Girls
Haryana 85 (Surya 27, Bharti 18) bt Punjab 64 (Komalpreet 22, Aakarshan 14) [21-15, 26-10, 14-16, 24-23]
Kerala 76 (Anusha 17) bt Delhi 33 (Ragnee 16, Sushantika 14) [23-8, 23-9, 15-8, 15-8]
9th and 10th place
Boys
Chhattisgarh 61 (Arvind 20, Panvas 16) bt Telangana 40 (Salman 10) [9-12, 11-5, 22-10, 19-13]
Girls
Gujarat 44 (Arti 18, Nandita 12) bt Rajasthan 32 (Asha 12) [10-7, 10-4, 6-10, 18-11]
Level 1 to Level 2*
(*note that all four teams are relegated to Level 2 from Level 1 and these matches were played in order to decide the divisions of these teams between Groups C to F for next year)
Boys
Madhya Pradesh 50 (Ashwani 14, Mayank 10) bt Uttar Pradesh 41 (Lav 15) [9-10, 23-7, 10-8, 8-16]
Girls
Madhya Pradesh 57 (Isha 19, Sakshi 15) bt Uttar Pradesh 41 (Pooja 19) [13-13, 17-15, 12-11, 27-12]
Day 6 Results- After 7: 00 PM
Level 1
Quarter finals
Boys
Delhi 68 (Vishal 27) bt Chandigarh 48 (Jatin 11) [13-11 27-8, 17-9, 19-12]
Loser’s Knockout- Finals (for Level 2 teams out of the main competition)
Boys
Uttarakhand 71 (Mayank 19, Himmat 18) bt Goa 49 (Roy 19, Shaun 12) [14-8, 18-13, 20-7, 21-19]