Punjab boys squeeze out a 1-point win over Maharashtra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 4 

The Punjab boys edged out Maharashtra by a single point to start their campaign with a win in the junior basketball National Championships in Puducherry.

Last year’s runners-up Punjab survived a late charge from Maharashtra, who won the last two quarters 17-16 and 20-17, to win 69-68. 

In fact, Punjab were outscored in three of the four quarters and it was their brilliant performance in the second quarter, winning it 19-10, that made the difference. Punjab’s Rahul was the top-scorer with 36 points.

The Haryana boys registered their second win in two days, beating Kerala 92-78. Haryana, who pulled off a stunning upset win yesterday, beating defending champions Tamil Nadu 90-89, overcame a slow start  to beat Kerala. 

Falling behind by nine points after the first quarter, the Haryana boys improved their performance as the match progressed, winning the last quarter by 15 points. Haryana’s Sahil was the top-scorer with 23 points.

Basketball Junior nationals (Results)

Boys

Punjab (Rahul 36, Ajit 10) bt Maharashtra (Aaron 18, Moteiro 15) 69-68 (17-21, 19-10, 16-17, 17-20)

Haryana (Sahil 23, Deepak 16) bt Kerala (Muhammed 16, Sudarshan 10) 92-78 (9-18, 27-25, 19-13, 37-22)

Girls

Kerala (Anusha 10) bt Rajasthan (Ishika 12) 66-39 (10-9, 15-11, 18-8, 23-11)

Karnataka (Priyanka 28, Bhandavya 28, Lopamudra 15) bt Maharashtra (Carina 17, Shruti 15) 77-71 (11-17, 24-21, 20-12, 22-21)

Chhattisgarh (Vaniana 21) bt Madhya Pradesh (Palak 12) 67-35 (11-12, 19-8, 21-9, 16-6)