The Inter-Institute Basketball Tournament hosted by the Royal Institute of Colombo was held on the 17th and 18th of January. The preliminary rounds were held at the Amal Internationl Courts, while the finals took place at the Henry Pedris Basketball Court.
17th January (Day 1) – Amal International Basketball Courts
Group A: RIC, SLIIT, ACBT and NSBM
Group B: ANC, Achievers, RIC (B), Mercury
RIC managed to top Group ‘A’ on Day 1 to secure a place in the semifinals after a mouthwatering clash against ACBT. The hosts were propelled by Sudesh Paiva and Chiranga Malwatta who pushed through a last minute surge. RIC who were a point down at the buzzer, were fortunately given two free-throws through a foul picked up by Sudesh who managed to bury them in style to win the game for the hosts (14-13).
It was ANC who topped Group ‘B’ and set themselves up with a semifinals clash against the gritty ACBT team.
18th January (Day 2) – Henry Pedris Basketball Courts
Boys Semifinals
ACBT managed to record a comfortable 26-22 victory over a strong ANC outfit. Rishan Rizvi (9) and Rayan Jayaratna (8) enforced play and secured a comfortable path towards the finals.
RIC who played the 2nd semifinal managed to dominate proceedings from the start, eventually leading 19-02 at the half time break. Anushan Sathananthasarma rallied his team, as Achievers conjured up a late resistance with a few quick plays off the break, but RIC managed to hold out any impending threat to win 29-17 and move into the finals. Thusara Warapitiya top scored for the hosts with 10 points, while Sudesh bagging 7 under his belt.
Consolation Game: ANC beat Achievers 19-05
Girls Finals – RIC v SLIIT
The hosts RIC started off the game positively with Swasha Fernando scoring two-three pointers in quick succession. However, the lead was short lived as SLIIT efficiently used the ball in both offense and defense to race to a 10-07 lead which remained until half time.
Hithaishi Jayawardene and Seshani Gamage help SLIIT further extent the lead to 18-08 as time was running out. Swasha managed to score another three pointer at 17-10 to reduce the deficit to just four points. But unfortunately for the hosts, a disciplined SLIIT side held on to the slender lead and recorded a fighting 17-13 win over RIC Girls to bag top tournament honours. Gayumi de Costa scored 12 out of the 17 points for the visitors.
Boys Finals – RIC v ACBT
The much anticipated Boy’s finals commenced with the two heavy weights RIC and ACBT vying for top honours. This was a re-match of the first round between the two teams where RIC managed to clinch victory on the stroke of the full time whistle.
It was the hosts who opened the scoring, as Chiranga Malwatta put RIC in the lead. Soon after, both teams crashed a couple as the scores remained equal at 4-4. Angelo Jayasuriya, Chiranga Malwatta and Himath Silva who helped score 3 consecutive baskets to take RIC into a 4-10 lead.
ACBT were hot on their heels as they managed to cut the deficit to just two points with Rayan being the main trouble maker for the visitors. However, RIC managed to keep their composure as Sudesh propelled his team to a 14-23 lead at half time.
After the break, ACBT zoomed to a four point deficit with a quick response. RIC failed to keep possession during the early minutes of the second half as the momentum entirely shifted towards the visitors who raked nearly 20 points without a reply as ACBT moved to a 30-23 lead.
Nabeel Deen and Rayan continued the good offensive work as ACBT led 35-26 with only a few minutes left in the game. RIC began to wake up from their slumber and reduced the lead to just four points (36-32) with Angelo and Sudesh putting some points on the board.
RIC left the comeback for too late as ACBT managed to secure a nerve racking 38-35 victory to upset the defending champions and claim their stake as the winners of this year’s Inter-Institute tournament.
Rayan and Nabeel top scored with 14 and 9 points respectively for the winners, while Sudesh produced 17 points for RIC.
Awards
Best Defense
Girls: Umavi Pathirana (SLIIT)
Boys: Rishan Rizvi (ACBT)
Best Offense
Girls: Swasha Fernando (RIC)
Boys: Sudesh Paiva (RIC)
MVP
Girls: Gayumi De Costa (SLIIT)
Boys: Rayan Jayaratna (ACBT)
Winners
Girls – SLIIT:
Seshani Gamage (C), Gayumi De Costa, Hithaishi Jayawardene, Nuwani Ruwanthika, Umavi Pathirana, Luchini Apsara, Lasanthi LIyange, Chamodhi Wijeywickrama, Dinali Gamage, Nawodya Dahami, Monisha Slemmermann, Panduka Ranasinghe (Coach)
Boys – ACBT:
Muddashir Badurdeen (C), Nabeel Badurdeen, Shamil Nilafer, Duwarakan Paskaran, Lankesh Gunatilake, Musaf Razeen, Rishan Rizvi, Rayan Jayaratna, Asitha Eranda, Ahmed Abbad, Yusuf Farook, A. Lashan.
