Shree Sports surge past Tigers to enter semis

NAGPUR: After a poor performance in most of their league games, Shree Sports boys rose to the occasion when it mattered the most - tumbled Gupta Tigers 37-34 - to seal a spot in the semifinals in the Ford Nagpur Competitive Basketball League at the SNG courts here on Sunday.
While Shree Sports rallied splendidly in the league, NKP Salve Academy girls-after two back-to-back defeats- made their presence felt with two successive victories that too in extra time to confirm their last 4 berth.
In a must-win game, Shree Sports, after a cautious start raised their level in the dying stage to post an exciting three-point win over Gupta Tigers. The quarter-wise scores read 4-6, 8-7, 13-15, 12-6 with valuable contributions from Shrey Lende (11) and Atharva Deshpande (8).
Matches in the girls' section kept the handful of spectators on the edge of their seats in both the morning and evening sessions.
The day started with a high-scoring thriller in which NKPS edged out Tapovan School 53-52 in extra time after both the teams netted 42 points apiece at regulation time.
In evening session too, NKPS were forced to play the additional five minutes as they pulled back a nerve-wracking 4-point (52-48) victory win over Gupta Tigers. With these back-to-back victories, NKPS finished the league as pool toppers with 14 points.
While NKPS had the last laugh, it was a bad day in office for the Star Motors girls as they went down fighting to Raisoni Achievers by a wafer-thin margin 31-32 to get a competitive see off from the league.
Star Motors boys romped into the semifinals with a comfortable 39-13 victory over Concrete Developers.
Results
Boys: Star Motors (Soham Meghe 11, Deepak Mishra 8) bt Concrete Developers (Rajat Borikar 4) 39-13 (9-2, 11-4, 12-4, 7-3) Ajinkya player of the match: Soham Meghe; Shree Sports (Shrey Lende 11, Atharva Deshpande 8) bt Gupta Tigers (Ankur Tule 11, Sarabjit Sidhu 9) 37-34 (4-6, 8-7, 13-15, 12-6) Ajinkya player of the match: Shrey Lende
Girls: NKP Salve Academy (Avanti Joshi 19, Rucha Aurangabadkar 17, Sayali Anturkar 7) bt Tapovan School (Sakshi Bhotmange 20, Kasturi Kawale 18) 53-52 (in extra time) (4-10, 8-2, 15-15, 15-15, ET 11-10) Ajinkya player of the match: Rucha Aurangabadkar; Raisoni Achievers (Maithili Pantawane 14, Ishani Chanchani 8) bt Star Motors (Mugdha Amraotkar 12, Prutha Deshpande 8) 32-31 (7-8, 8-4, 8-6, 9-13) Ajinkya player of the match: Maithili Pantawane; NKP Salve Academy (Avanti Joshi 19, Sayali Anturkar 13) bt Gupta Tigers (Nikhar Bhanot 13, Harshada Pande 12) 52-48 (in extra time) (13-10, 4-4, 11-18, 15-11, ET: 9-5 ) Ajinkya player of the match: Sayali Anturkar.