All Island Under-20 Schools basketball tournament

by Rex Clementine

For more than two years, school children had suffered as there had been little basketball due to the pandemic. But when all restrictions were lifted and the sport resumed, the teams put up a grand show. The knockout stages of the game was shifted to Sugathadasa Indoor stadium to give schoolboys and girls a flavour of international basketball and there were some tight games that were witnessed yesterday with some of them keeping you in the edge of your seat.

The day didn’t start well though with Gateway College, Kandy failing to turn up for their quarter-final against St. Peter’s. Gateway argued that they are unable to get their players for competitions due to exams but the question was asked whether had their withdrawal been notified earlier, the team that finished third in the group could have got a game. St. Peter’s, hence received a walk-over.

The second quarter-final between St. Joseph’s and Ananda was a closely contested affair. After a tight first half, where Joes led by one point (28-27), there was some excellent basketball dished out by both teams trying seizing the initiative. Joes, probably the better team in the competition, at times looked set for a comfortable win having secured a double digit lead, but Ananda kept coming back equaling the scores.

In the end, Joes’ superior bench strength and the presence of Shehan Fernando, their captain, who has come close to featuring for the national team, proved to be too good as they won by five points. The final score was 62-57.

Gateway, Colombo are playing a young team in the competition and they failed to match the skills of Royal College, but the experience would do a world of good for them. Several Gateway players are eligible to continue for the next couple of seasons and that augurs well for a team that always punches above its weight. There was certainly no shame in losing to Royal by ten points (72-62).

The best game of the day was between St. Anne’s Kurunegala and D.S. Senanayake College. The Annites with some brilliant shooters had the game in the bag but some blunders towards the crucial stages of the game cost them dearly. They did well to send the game to extra time but DS prevailed in that period winning by just one point (63-62) to break the hearts of a large crowd that had turned up for the game from Kurunegala.

In a game where the pendulum swung frequently, the coaching staff of both teams had to be on their toes coming up with smart strategies and counter moves.

Marlon Fernando of St. Anne’s despite ending on the losing side put up a superb performance and we could be seeing a star in the making. If only the Annites had passed the ball more often to their key performer, this  could have been a different story.

St. Peter’s will meet Royal College in the first semi-final today at 7am followed by the second semi between DS and Joes.

In the girls’ semis, meanwhile, Holy Family Convent and Mahamaya Vidyalaya, Kandy emerged winners and will meet in the finals on Tuesday.

HFC beat St. Joseph’s Girls School, Nugegoda comprehensively 85-31 while the semi between Good Shepherd Convent and Mahamaya went to overtime and the Kandy girls won by four points. The scores were leveled at 39-39 at the end of the full time and Mahamaya edged out Good Shepherd 45-41 in the extra-time.