19 December,2019 07:56 AM IST | Mumbai | Gordon D'costa
Jamnabai Narsee players celebrate their win over Cathedral and John Connon at Azad Maidan yesterday. Picture courtesy /Atul Kamble
Playing with plenty of gumption, Jamnabai Narsee International School (Juhu) recovered from a 4-8 first half deficit to turn the tables on challengers Cathedral and John Connon (Fort) and record a deserving 23-15 win in a boys U-16 semi-final of the MSSA inter-school basketball tournament at Azad Maidan on Wednesday.
Cathedral and John Connon began in positive fashion with Veer Subandh making an incisive run through the rival defence and finding the hoop to open the scoring in the very first minute. Later, Yohan Mehta scored two baskets as Cathedral finished the first quarter with a 6-2 lead. In the second, both teams struggled with their shooting and could only score a basket each as Cathedral enjoyed an 8-4 advantage. However, Cathedral were unable to build on the advantage and even missed some easy lay-ups, resulting in their downfall.
The Jamnabai lads regrouped after the break and got their act together. Abhinav Garge (14 points) and Udipt Baksi (seven points, including a three-pointer) were responsible for Jamnabai's fight back. The duo struck up a good combination and exchanged passes to break towards the offensive board and consistently find the basket.
Jamnabai completely ruled the third quarter, scoring 10 points while Cathedral managed just one. Enjoying a 14-9 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, Jamnabai maintained the momentum emerged and won the final period 9-6 to complete a satisfying victory.
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In the second semi-final, Don Bosco (Matunga) quashed the aspirations of Vibgyor High ICSE (Goregaon) by with a fluent 32-23 win. For the Matunga team, Zanan A (10 points) and Piyush C. (8 points) did the bulk of the scoring, while Dev Premi (13 points) was the top scorer for Vibgyor. Among the girls, Vibgyor convincingly beat Bombay Scottish (Mahim) 36-15 (half-time 23-9) in the semis. Earlier, defending champions St Anthony's (Chembur) outclassed Hiranandani Foundation (Powai) 22-6.
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