DKM defend girls title, NASA win boys crown

Nagpur: Dharampeth Krida Mandal (DKM) girls rallied splendidly to register a thrilling two-point (53-51) title triumph over Nutan Bharat Yuwak Sangh (NBYS) to successfully defend the junior district basketball championship crown at the Nagpur University courts on Wednesday.While DKM youngsters lifted the U-18 crown in a cracker of a contest, the boys' outfit from Nagpur Amateur Sports Association (NASA) kept their cool in the dying stage to outclass first-time finalists Spartan Basketball Academy 51-46 and emerge as the new district champions.In the girls' final, player of the tournament and 13-year-old Netra Damke once again proved her mettle by scoring a game-high 15 points, as lanky guard Pankhudi Bade (14), Anaya Prabhune (13) and Anandi Sonewane (6) chipped in with timely baskets to help DKM retain the U-18 title by two points.After NBYS took a half-time 24-17 lead, the trio of DKM youngsters, including Netra, Sara Gulalkari and Swara Palkar, laid a full-court defensive trap to dominate the proceedings after the change of ends. The full-court triangular defensive strategy of DKM helped them reduce the margin. With 2 minutes remaining for the final hooter, DKM turned the tables to clinch the title in style. The quarter-wise progress in DKM's favour read 7-8, 10-16, 18-15, 18-12.Later, in the boys' title clash, Ishan Galande fired a game-high 24 points as NASA ended the giant-killing run of Spartan 51-46 to secure the district title. The quarter-wise scores of the neck-and-neck final in NASA's favour read 13-9, 8-12, 12-11, 18-14.RESULTS (Finals)GIRLS: DKM (Netra Damke 15, Pankhudi Bade 14, Anaya Prabhune 13, Anandi Sonewane 6) bt NBYS (Trisha Karki 12, Himangi Pund 11, Nishita Bakre 9) 53-51 (7-8, 10-16, 18-15, 18-12);BOYS: NASA (Ishan Galande 24, Naman Tokar 8, Dheer Agrawal 6) bt Spartan (Ishan Bhujade 16, Siddhesh Mohite 9, Samir Kharwade 8) 51-46 (13-9, 8-12, 12-11, 18-14). tnn