Captain Mahek Shah leads from the front

Don Bosco captain Mahek top-scores with 18 points to help win MSSA-MI U-16 basketball title

Don Bosco (Matunga) won the Mumbai Schools Sports Association-Mumbai Indians boys’ U-16 inter-school basketball title, defeating Navy Children School (Colaba) 45-24 at the YMCA basketball courtsu00a0yesterday.

Bosco captain and forward Mahek Shah led the scoring with 18 points while Darshan Mehta contributed with 14 points. The duo was well supported by forwards Darshan Gandhi (10 points) and Bradley Rodrigues (6 points) who did some good work in defence and collected rebounds with ease to ensure they won in style.

Good show: Mahek Shah (left) en route to scoring a point at YMCA ground yesterday. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Don Bosco started on a right note, taking a nine-point lead over Navy Children in the first quarter (15-6). 15-year-old Mahek’s intensity was obvious when he took his turn guarding Navy Children’s playmaker Rohan Dutta for inconsequential inbound passes midway through the game. The move seemed to work in Bosco’s favour as Rohan failed to create chances. This resulted in Navy Children missing nine of the 13 shots they attempted.

Too late...
Navy Children captain Parikshith Arvindan missed the basket on six occasions. They came back strongly in the fourth and final quarter by outplaying Bosco’s 9-2. But it was too late as Bosco had, by then, won the match 45-24 to emerge champions.

“I’m a satisfied captain today as I end my last year in school on a winning note. We missed out on the title last season by losing to St Joseph’s, Wadala. I felt that Navy Children lost as they played under pressure,” said Mahek.

Don Bosco coach Manoj Kotian said: “We ensured that Navy Children’s Rohan was marked properly. Today, Mahek no doubt, had the edge over others, but it was a collective effort,” said Kotian.

Meanwhile, disappointed Navy Children coach Randheer Singh said: “I don’t know what happened to the boys today. They were afraid and missed almost 13 shots which cost us the title.”

VIBGYOR High (Goregaon) emerged champions in the girls’ U-16 category. They beat Divine Child High School (Andheri) 28-22 in the final.u00a0

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