Blue Black and Blue; Undisputed Schools’ basketball Champs

St. Joseph’s College Colombo 10 and S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia clashed for the ThePapare.com U-19 Boys’ Basketball Championship 2016 last evening at the Henry Pedris Basketball Complex.

The two unbeaten teams kept the crowd at the edge of their seats through an intense forty minutes of basketball, in which S. Thomas’ walked away with the honours, outscoring their opponents, 53-49 at the final whistle.

St. Joseph’s went all guns blazing against the Thomians in the first quarter.  An unsettled Thomian team got off to quite a shaky start and was put under a tremendous deal of pressure in the first ten minutes.  The Josephians certainly made their presence felt early on; scoring on the fast breaks and converting free throws. They eventually calmed down on their play, worked the ball around to provide their three point specialists to work their magic. Joes were on a 10-0 run, with 3:00 left in the first period. They held on to the defensive rebounds and even made great efforts to capitalize on the offensive rebounds. The reeling Thomian defense was left helpless; before the coaches strategically made a 5 man substitution to change the momentum of the game. The substitutions stuck to their job, as they held back S. Joseph’s throughout the rest of the quarter and brought in the first points for the Thomian side. Joes walked out of the first quarter leading 11-4.

The second quarter saw the Thomian side eventually settle into the tempo of the Final. Led by skipper Adrian Gunawardene, who posted three quick layups on the fast break, the Thomians were finally matching up to their opponents. Their defense settled in too; playing a zone defense at the three point arc. St. Joseph’s on the other hand, were pretty consistent on the scorecard with skipper Shivanga de Silva and Shenal Samuel leading the offensive unit. It was a close tussle in the second quarter; with Joes granting hardly any room for the Thomians to capitalize. St. Joseph’s were quick to fill the lanes after rebounds were made; providing them many options as they proceeded down the court. However, they just failed to convert shots at the rim. Both teams carried a low free throw conversion rate in this quarter. St. Joseph’s led 20-14 at halftime.

Half Time: St. Joseph’s College 20 – S. Thomas’ College 14

It was mostly Shivanga de Silva delivering for the Josephians; driving through the Thomian defense on back to back occasions in the third period and managinged to draw contact on the way to rim. This granted his team much needed free throws that provided them with a chance to outscore the Thomians. He managed to convert a majority of these. On the other end, sharing the same number 6 jersey, it was Adrian Gunawardene who kept the Thomian scoring alive. Driving beautifully through the lanes, he was ever so unhesitant to fall back and ready the defense. Following a brilliant three pointer posted by Yasiru Bimantha and a layup by the skipper, S. Thomas’ led for the first time in the game, 28-26, at the halfway point in the third quarter. Joes managed to recover, nursing a slim lead at the end of the third period with the scoreboard at 37-35 in their favour.

It all came down to the final quarter of the game, (of the tournament to be precise). Two equally talented, unbeaten teams, who put in tremendous effort into this game had the odds distributed equally between them. It was in this do or die quarter that the fate of the championship depended on.

Adrian Gunawardene tied the game with a jumper, 37-37 in the early seconds of the last quarter. The Thomians opted for Yasiru Bimantha to closely guard Josephian playmaker, Shivanga de Silva across the full court in the last 10 minutes. Shenal Samuel’s attempts at the basket fell short; but Shehan Fernando managed to keep the scoreboard ticking for St. Joseph’s. The Thomian skipper, Adrian was everywhere in the last quarter, from blocking shots and making assists to  going the full length of the court to convert layups. Chenutha Kasthuriarachchi combined to support his skipper, playing a strong defensive game and scoring on the pick and roll. The Josephians began to lose the plot in the last three minutes as they missed crucial free throws and a couple of open shots although they stole possession on a couple of occasions, the pressure seemed to mount on the shoulders of the Josephians. Possession was exchanged back and forth in the last 120 seconds of the game and fouls were being traded at a rate. Adrian Gunawardene, Devankha Gunawardene and Yasiru Bimantha sealed the game in the last 30 seconds, sharing four free throws between them. St. Joseph’s could not recover in the last few seconds although they committed intentional fouls in a desperate effort to turn the tables.

The Thomians ended their campaign unbeaten and secured ThePapare.com U-19 Boys’ Basketball Championship 2016 outscoring St. Joseph’s 53-49 at the final whistle. It was just not the day for the Josephians who proved themselves to be one of the toughest and most competitive sides in this tournament, as they end up with the Runner Up honours. The Thomians ended their championship drought after 16 years, with their last win taking place in 2000 and most recent finals appearance being in 2009. It is also noteworthy to mention that their U-17 side emerged champions in their respective All-Island tournament this year as well.

Full Time: St. Joseph’s College 49– S. Thomas’ College 54

Top Scorers:

ThePapare.com Player of the Match: Adrian Gunawardene (STC)