Kottayam & Kozhikode Crowned Champions at the Kerala State Junior Basketball Championship

Kasargod, 20th April, 2016: Kozhikode junior women avenged the defeat that they suffered at the hands of Thrissur last year to be crowned the junior women's champions. Similarly, Kottayam junior men were declared champions after defeating Thrissur 58-40, here at the 40th edition of the Kerala Junior State Basketball Championship for Junior Men and Junior Women. The championship was organised by Kasargod District Basketball Association under the auspicious of Kerala Basketball Association, at the newly built Pilicode Panchayath Maidan in Kalikadavu, Kasargod.

Thrissur women's team- The runners up of the tournament

What began as a close game resulted in Kozhikode coming up strong and beating Thrissur to the tune of 66-46. Neva Raj who led her team with 21 points, was followed by Anusha IP who scored 19 points. Thrissur's Nimmi George who scored 19 points was awarded top scorer of the tournament.

Kottayam Team- The Kerala State Junior Champions

Meanwhile in the Jr. Men's Division Kottayam came back after a low scoring first half of 18-15 to beat Thrissur 58-40. Shiras was the top scorer for Kottayam with 27 points and was followed by Akhil B who rose to the occasion in the final for Kottayam, contributing 16 points. Thrissur's Grigo Mathew led them with a solid 17 points.

Bronze for Eranakulum Junior Men & Kannur Junior Women

Earlier, Erankulum Junior men's defeated the defending champions Thiruvananthapuram 61-41 and in the Junior women's division, Kannur defeated Thiruvananthapuram 53-43 to claim the third place spot.

Semi Finals

Late on Monday night, the Kozhikode junior women's team, who had a 25-4 lead in the first half, went on to beat Kannur 44-21 to meet Thrissur in the final. Aswathy Jayasankar led her team with 19 points.

In the junior men's division 1^st semi-final, the Kottayam team which led 30-27 lead in the first half, went on to hand the defending champions Thiruvananthapuram a blow out loss (57-39). They then went on to meet Thrissur, who had an easy match over Ernakulum, bagging that victory with a double digit lead and plenty to spare.

Scores

Finals

Junior Women's Final

1. Kozhikode 66 (Nivya Raj 21, Anusha IP 19, Akhila Mohan 12) bt Thrissur 46 (Nimmy George 19, Reyna Catherine 10)

Kozhikode team after being crowned the Kerala Junior State Women's Champions.

Junior Men's Final

1. Kottayam 58 (Shiras Ahamed 27, Akhil B 16, Jacob Jaimon 10) bt Thissur 40 (Grigo Mathew 17, Indian Nelson 10)

Bronze Medal matches

Junior Women's

1. Kannur 53 (Aiswarya Sabu 17, Rose Mary Sajan 13, Lithara KR 10) bt Thiruvananthapuram 43 (Sreekala R 23)

Junior Men'

1. Ernakulum 61 (Ebin Jose 16, Sharaun Frazilin 14) bt Thiruvananthapuram 41 (Prem Prakash18)

Semi finals

Junior Women's

1. Kozhikode 44 (Asawaty Jayasankar 19, Anusha IP 12) bt Kannur 21 (Lithara CK 10) 

Junior Men's

1. Thrissur 41 (Grigo Mathew 14, Anto Prince 10) bt Ernakulum 17 (Sharan Frazi 10)

2. Kottayam 57 (Jacob Jaimon 14, Sudharsan 13, Shiras Muhammed 12) bt Thiruvananthapuram 39 (Prem Prakash 12)