NAGPUR: City cagers Sameeksha Chandak and Gunjan Mantri played well in tandem as Maharashtra girls outplayed
Kerala and
Karnataka to emerge the pool toppers and qualify for the quarterfinals of the 46th Sub-Junior National Basketball Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in
Cuttack
on Friday.
Leading from the front, Sameeksha fired a game-high 18 points to guide defending champions Maharashtra past Kerala 70-47 in the morning session. Pune cagers Pragati Nawale (16) and Aanaya Bhavsar (14) added 30 points while Sameeksha's city-mate Gunjan Mantri contributed (11) to help Maharashtra register a come-from-behind 23-point (70-47) win over Kerala.
Despite playing their second game in a day, Maharashtra girls continued their dominant run and made light work of Karnataka 71-58 in their last league game. Pune center Aanaya Bhavsar and city forward Gunjan gelled well to score 20 and 18 points respectively in the evening session. Before being fouled-out in the last quarter, Sameeksha made her presence felt collecting a handful of rebounds under the glass and scoring seven baskets.
Earlier, Maharashtra boys registered a thumping 74-61 victory over Punjab to qualify for the quarterfinals. With two wins and as many defeats, the bronze medalists of the previous edition, finished third in the group to qualify for the last eight stage. In their last league game against Punjab,
Taufiq Qureshi
(22), Yogesh
Yadav
(16) and Badal Rawat (10) id the bulk of scoring as Maharashtra rallied splendidly to register a facile 74-61 win.
RESULTSGirls: Maharashtra (Aanaya Bhavsar 20, Gunjan Mantri 18, Sameeksha Chandak 7) bt Karnataka (MK Mashaswini 13) 71-58 (24-12, 9-18, 21-13, 17-15); Maharashtra (Sameeksha Chandak 18, Pragati Nawale 16, Aanaya Bhavsar 14, Gunjan Mantri 11) bt Kerala (Akshara L 13) 70-47 (16-18, 12-17, 21, 8, 21-4).
Boys: Maharashtra (Taufiq Qureshi 22, Yogesh Yadav 16, Badal Rawat 10) bt Punjab (GS Sandhu 12) 74-61 (14-19, 17-10, 24-17, 19-15).
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