Smeet, Sharvil show script historical final berth for Nagpur hoopsters

NAGPUR: As far as state basketball championship is concerned, Mumbai South West has always been the team to beat. Nagpur boys achieved the rare feat by beating the seasoned campaigners from Mumbai's Mastan area twice in as many days. Apart from creating history, Nagpur also booked the final berth in the Maharashtra State Youth Basketball Championship being played at the Indira National School courts in Pune on Wednesday.
While tallest city cager Kshitij Agarkar spoiled the party for the defending champions on Tuesday, pint-sized point guard Smeet Joshi and stylish forward Sharvil Bomanwar came up with a lively combination of 54 points to topple the applecart of Mumbai South West by as many as 29 points (99-70) on Wednesday. After this facile victory, Nagpur boys are set to meet the unbeaten team from Mumbai North for the title on Thursday. Trailing by as many as 16 points at the end of first quarter, the speedsters from North rallied splendidly to outclass hosts Pune 97-81 for their berth in the finals.
For their 29-point win over the former champions, Nagpur relied mainly on the lively show of Smeet Joshi and Sharvil Bomanwar, who were all over the court. The duo of Smeet and Sharvil scored 54 points between them and took the Mumbai boys by surprise with their inside out show.
While Smeet fired a game-high 29 points Sharvil played a pivotal role scoring 25 points. In addition to the heroic show of Smeet and Sharvil, Siddhesh Kulkarni (16), Kshitij Agarkar (15) and Varun Ahuja (6) came up with timely contributions. The quarter-wise progress for Nagpur read 18-13, 34-16, 23-20, 24-21.
In the girls' section, Mumbai North surprised hosts and defending champions Pune 70-57. They will meet the winner of Nagpur and Dhule.
Earlier in the quarterfinals, Nagpur boys made light work of first time quarterfinalist Chandrapur 68-27, the in-form city girls got the better of Aurangabad 47-39 to ease into the semifinals.
RESULTS
Semifinal (Boys): Nagpur (Smit Joshi 29, Sharvil Bomanwar 25, Siddhesh Kulkarni 16, Kshitij Agarkar 15, Varun Ahuja 6) bt Mumbai South West (Mudassir Sayed 24) 99-70 (18-13, 34-16, 23-20, 24-21); Mumbai North bt Pune 97-81 (10-26, 23-20, 27-14, 37-21).