Gateway College champions of under 17 basketball

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Basketball Coverage

After St. Joseph’s College and Gateway College beat AIS and Lyceum respectively at the semi-finals, they met to battle it out last evening to decide the new under 17 champions. After an exciting and nail biting match, that went into over time, Gateway won the championship by a mere point. Read on to see how it happened.

Pre Match Quotes

Speaking to the Gateway College coach he had this to say about their plan for the match ahead: “We’re going to fight for every loose ball and try to have as much possession of the ball as possible and look to collect the ball for second time scoring opportunities and hopefully everything will go well for us.”

The St. Joseph’s coach shared his thoughts about the match with ThePapare.com and had this to say: “Our primary focus for the match is our defence, to guard their long range shooters and keep the opponents scoring to a minimum.”

Match Report

St. Joseph’s College had first possession of the ball however it was Gateway College who was able to get the first basket. On the defensive side of things, Gateway was using a zone defence while St. Joseph’s had opted for a man to man defence. The Josephian players had a slight advantage when it came to height giving them the edge when it came to defence and collecting rebounds. St. Joseph’s was close behind Gateway trailing by 4 as they powered through the defence to finish strong near the rim.

First-Quarter: Gateway College-16 St. Joseph’s College-12

The Gateway players struggled to penetrate the Josephian defence while the St. Joseph’s players used their size and weight to their advantage and pushed through to secure their layups. However, the Gateway players had excellent ball handling skills and managed to stay close behind thanks to their jump shots. The main player for St. Joseph’s College was Shehan who secured most of their points as the Gateway defence failed to stop him from attacking the rim on numerous occasions allowing St. Joseph’s to maintain their lead however slight it was.

Half-time: Gateway College-20 St. Joseph’s College-24

As the third quarter began St. Joseph’s was quick to create some distance between the two teams getting a couple consecutive baskets. Gateway had used the break well coming back with a tighter defence which reduced the Josephian scoring to an extent allowing them to catch up. By the end of the quarter, the tables had turned on St. Joseph’s College as Gateway tied the score going into the final quarter of the game.

Third-Quarter: Gateway College-49 St. Joseph’s College-49

During the final 10 minutes Gateway College was collecting more rebounds and took more second shot opportunities while St. Joseph’s was trying their luck from beyond the perimeter. Both teams committed quite a few unnecessary fouls giving each other many opportunities at the free shot line to score. Gateway switched up their defence to a full court press after the score was tied with mere seconds to go. With just a short time remaining St. Joseph’s got a basket and went on for a three point play had they got the free shot the game would have been in their hands, unfortunately, they missed it and the game went into overtime with the scores being tied once again.

Full-Quarter: Gateway College-67 St. Joseph’s College-67

During overtime, both schools had, even more, opportunities at the line to shoot which could have turned the tide of the game had they been successful with their attempts. Both teams had moved up to a full court man to man defence with a lot riding on the game the tension was high for both teams to perform at their best. St. Joseph’s had a few chances at turning the tables on Gateway through free shots but the pressure got to them as they missed a few and lost the match by 01 point as they ran out of time.

Over-time: Gateway College-75 St. Joseph’s College-74

Speaking to the coach of the winning team he had this to say after the match: “The full court press we used worked well I think that was crucial for our victory because that gave us more possession of the ball and it was the major turning point of the game as well as the fact that we only brought in our 3 point shooter Mirthesh when necessary and had a good defensive side on the court. But both teams were very well matched and I think it came down to luck to decide who the winner of this one was.”