Remarkable Joes win low scoring thriller

St. Joseph’s College, Darley Road showcased their strength in schools’ basketball by securing the All-Island Under-20 basketball championship. The final was worked off at Maradana on Sunday and the Joes held on to a thrlling three-point win over arch-rivals St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya.

Joes were overwhelming favourites to win the title having beaten defending champions D.S. Senanayake College in the semi-finals of the Colombo North Zone. They overcame Ananda College in the finals of the Zonals.

Then in the ‘A’ Division, they overcame Trinity College, Kandy and Asian International School. The quarter-final was a rematch of the Zonal finals and Joes cruised to a comfortable win over Ananda.

Wesley College proved to be not much of a match in the semi-final, which St. Joseph’s won 94-57.

In the final, however, Joes were really tested. They managed a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter and at half-time extended the lead to seven points.

St. Peter’s bounced back after the break scoring 12 points in the third quarter and held Joes to nine points.

It turned out to be a nail-biting encounter with St. Joseph’s winning 59-56.

Methika Jayasinghe was declared the Most Valuable Player in the final. He scored 19 points and was well backed up by Abhaya Gajamange, who finished with 17 points. He was also named the Best Defensive Player.

Joes are coached by former Sri Lanka captain Roshan Randima and he’s assisted by Shane Daniel. The same pair two days ago guided Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya to the All Island ‘A’ Division girls’ title.

Since the year 2001, St. Joseph’s have been a strong force in local basketball winning multiple titles and they have been rarely tested by rest of the teams. They have been well coached by the combination of Roshan Shane.