Pune girls, Mumbai boys retain crown

NASHIK: Hoopsters' power house Pune and Mumbai once again underlined their supremacy in Maharashtra winning the girls and boys titles respectively in the state-level basketball championship at Meenatai Thakre Indoor Stadium in Panchavati, Nashik, here on Sunday.
While the top ranked teams lived up to their reputation, the Nagpur boys team of Centre Point School and the hosts' girls team of Nashik had a bronze medal finish.
Amidst the presence of a lively Nashik crowd, the star-studded Pune girls registered a thumping 26-point (52-26) triumph over Kolhapur to pocket their seventh crown on a trot, Mumbai boys team overcame the challenge of Nashik 63-52 to complete a hat-trick of state titles.
In the boys' summit clash, it was the Nashik hoopsters who combined well early on as they went on to dominate the initial half by winning the first and second quarters 10-8 and 14-6 respectively for a handy 10-point advantage at the breather. The change of ends however brought a change in fortune for Mumbai. Making good use of their inside-out passing they first captured the third quarter 18-17 and turned the tide in the last quarter winning 30-11 to register a spine-tingling 11-point title triumph.
For the winners, Vaishak Nambiar scored a game-high 26 points while Tanmay Mali netted 17. For Nashik, a combined effort from Harsh Gupta (16), Dhiraj Sharma (14) and Aditya Ashtekar (13) went in vain.
In a lop sided girls' summit clash, the experienced cagers from Pune always had that class and commitment, as they kept their rivals from Kolhapur under check and went on to win their seventh successive title 52-26.
For the winners, Shruthi Menon and Afi Bape shared 30 points between them as Aditi Nikam (11) was the only player for Kolhapur to get a double digit score.
Nagpur cagers too had something to cheer when they edged out Kolhapur 44-39. The
Quarter-wise scores read 14-9, 6-10, 14-11, 10-9. For the winners, Shantam Jejani (14), Manmohit Tuli (10) and Soham Meghe (9) played well while Gaurav Mane of Kolhapur netted 14 points.
Nashik girls too gave their home crowd a reason to cheer when they registered a nail-biting 47-46 win over Amravati to capture the bronze.
Matches of the U-19 and below 14 years category will commence from Monday.
Results:
Boys (final): Mumbai (Vaishak Nambiar 26, Tanmay Mali 17) bt Nashik (Harsh Gupta 16, Dhiraj Sharma 14) 63-52 (8-10, 6-14, 18-17, 30-11)
Third place: Nagpur (Shantam Jejani 14, Manmohit Tuli 10, Soham Meghe 9) bt Kolhapur (Gaurav Mane 14, Adnan B 9) 44-39 (14-9, 6-10, 14-11, 10-9)
Semifinals:Mumbai (Tanmay Mali 19) bt Kolhapur (Gaurav Mane 16) 55-47 (12-13, 11-10, 18-16, 14-8); Nashik (Dhiraj Sharma 10) bt Nagpur (Soham Meghe 12) 31-25 (4-7, 10-8, 6-9, 11-1)
Girls (final): Pune (Shruthi Menon 16, Ali Bape 14) bt Kolhapur (Aditi Nikam 11) 52-26 (14-10, 20-9, 11-0, 7-7)
Third place: Nashik (Aditi Deshmukh 16, Shravani Kulthe 15) bt Amravati (Pallavi Pawar 19, Gauri Bhagat 15) 47-46 (11-2, 19-14, 8-18, 9-12)
Semifinals: Kolhapur (Aditi Nikam 20) bt Amravati (Gauri Bhagat 13) 34-28 (6-0, 14-5, 4-8, 10-15); Pune (Aditi Kamble 13) bt Nashik (Aditi Deshmukh 6) 58-24 (14-9, 19-2, 10-6, 7-15).