Maharashtra boys stun holders Punjab to enter quarters

NAGPUR: A day after the Maharashtra girls' team made it to the quarterfinals, state boys staged a late rally to topple the applecart of defending champions Punjab 73-70 in a spine-tingling tie to book their last 8 berth in the 28th Youth National Basketball Championship at the Divisional Sports Complex on Sunday.
On a pleasantly cool evening, Maharashtra boys, donning white and reds, gelled well to surprise one and all with an inspiring show in front of a goodly Sunday crowd.
After a brisk start, Maharashtra lost their way against the tactical defence of the lanky lads to lose the first quarter 18-23. They came back in the low-scoring second quarter, winning 13-11 while Punjab kept a three-point advantage at the breather.
The change of ends, however, turned the game on its head as the home team put Punjab under tremendous pressure with their rock-solid defence combined with excellent three-point conversions. Maharashtra netted five three-pointers in the third quarter to keep the local crowd in good cheer and dominate the crucial 10 minutes 31-13 to take a handy 15-point lead before the last period. Ibrahim Sheikh fired 12 of his 18 points in the third quarter to hog the limelight.
Punjab players became aggressive in the final 10 minutes and scored 23 points as against 11 by the home team but felt short by a mere three points. Put under pressure, experienced Punjab skipper Loveneet Singh failed to convert the last second lay-up as the indoor arena erupted in joy with Maharashtra making most of their team spirit to cause one of the biggest surprises in the championship.
For the winners, Ibrahim Sheikh (18), Rohan Jagtap (15) and Salim Malik (15) played well while Khushmit Singh and Hemant Sabrawal contributed 25 and 17 points respectively for Punjab.
In another exciting clash, Madhya Pradesh prevailed over last year's runners-up Chhattisgarh with a facile 72-45 victory. Anam Ali and Abdul Rahim scored 15 points apiece for the winners while the 25-point effort of Akash Thakur for Chhattisgarh went in vain.
Earlier in the girls section, high on confidence after getting rid of Kerala on Saturday, Maharashtra cagers outplayed Karnataka 64-29 in a one-sided clash to emerge the pool topper after their last league game.
Girls from Uttar Pradesh too rose to the occasion when they registered a come from behind three-point (68-65) victory over Chhattisgarh.
RESULTS (DAY 4)
Boys: Maharashtra (Ibrahim Sheikh 18, Rohan Jagtap 15, Samil Malik 15) bt Punjab (Khushmit Singh 25, Hemant Sabrawal 17) 73-70 (18-23, 13-11, 31-13, 11-23); Rajasthan (Pradeep Kumar 25, Anmil Singh 25) bt Uttrakhand 77-44 (30-15, 14-15, 16-5, 17-9); UP (Lalit Kumar 28) bt West Bengal 79-57 (18-12, 25-20, 15-13, 21-12); Delhi (Pankaj 21, Akimjeet 18) bt Karnataka (Jeethender 20) 67-52 (24-10, 15-9, 10-12, 18-21); MP (Anam Ali 15, Abdul Rahim 15) bt Chhattisgarh (Akash Thakur 25) 72-45 (25-9, 13-6, 16-13, 18-17); Haryana (Himanshu Sharma 30, Rakesh 28) bt Jharkhand (Rohit A 15) 112-42 (33-16, 38-17, 20-5, 21-4)
Girls: Maharashtra (Shireen Limaye 19, Ishwari Pingle 12) bt Karnataka 64-29 (16-8, 22-9, 17-4, 9-8); UP (Shruti 25) bt Chhattisgarh (Anjana 21) 68-65 (11-20, 17-18, 22-11, 18-16); MP (Amishi 20, Monica Gaur 20) bt Rajasthan (Nisha S 18, Jaswant Rathore 11) 57-54 (19-17, 18-9, 11-14, 9-14); Kerala (Arthy 23, Prami P Lal 13) bt Punjab (Nirmal Kaur 11) 73-22 (26-10, 23-2, 12-5, 12-5); West Bengal (Maadhu Kumari 37, Rupkatha 23) bt Puducherry (Shammogh 21) 81-71 (24-21, 24-21, 21-11, 12-18); Tamil Nadu (Hema 14, Sharmila 9) bt Uttrakhand (Gayisha 5) 50-17 (27-3, 7-4, 11-0, 5-10).