The Mercantile Basketball League at the Henry Pedris Basketball Court showcased two matches in the men’s category between HNB and FairFirst and between IRS and Hayleys group last evening. The matches ended in favour of FairFirst and Hayleys, read on to see what happened.
FairFirst vs Hatton National Bank (A Division)
The game started off with FairFirst getting first possession of the ball from the traditional jump ball which lead to a quick jump shot. The FairFirst team employed a 1:2:2 zone defense while HNB opted for a man to man style defense instead. The FairFirst team had a well-coordinated offensive attack that consistently finished strong near the rim giving them control over the game throughout the first half. Both teams had quite a few passes going across the court during their offensive plays but FairFirst went into lemons leading by 7 thanks to their superior defense which allowed them to intercept the ball more often and take the lead as HNB trailed.
Half-time: FairFirst- 27 HNB- 20
HNB was at a disadvantage having a weaker bench and fewer options for substitutions, forcing many of the players to play the entire game. Although this didn’t bother HNB too much as they closed the gap between the 2 teams halfway into the half taking a few mid-range jump shots. HNB also came into the second half improving their defensive plays as well reducing the deficit to a mere 3 points. During the last 10 minutes, FairFirst switched up their defensive strategy to a man to man defense to stop the HNB players from taking jump shots.
Photo Album- 27th Mercantile Basketball League
During the final minute of the game, both teams received a couple of free shots but it was FairFirst who took advantage of these, sealing their victory with a lead of 04 points in what could be called a tough and evenly fought game.
Full-time: FairFirst-53 HNB- 49
The captain of the winning team Udayanga had this to say to ThePapare: “It was definitely a tough match but I don’t think our team is at its peak yet we haven’t had enough practices with each other and the chemistry is still developing but I believe that with a couple more practice sessions will be able to perform much better than we did today.”
Peoples Team of the MSBA League 2017 – Vote
The 27th Edition of the Mercantile Basketball League will commence during the third week of June…
IFS R&D vs Hayleys (E Division)
This was the first game for Hayleys after the loss of the beloved basketball player Ranil Ganewatta.
The first to score during the match was Hayleys and they followed it up with a shot from downtown and asserting their dominance from the very start of the game. Although IFS did not take this sitting down, trailing behind Hayleys very closely, towards the latter part of the first half they began to lose the plot of the game and Hayleys was able double their score. IFS began to trail behind Hayleys significantly because they failed to make their shots count and also had a subpar defensive strategy which failed to successfully stop the offensive attacks.
Half-time: IFS-12 Hayleys-25
During the second half, there was a lot of pressure on IFS to make up for the subpar playing in the first half and turn the tables on Hayleys but this was an increasingly difficult task with the many mistakes that IFS continued to make on the court. Hayleys group was the stronger team when it came to collecting rebounds giving them an advantage on both the offensive and defensive side, allowing them to take more shots and being able to recover from missed attempts. Both teams took the game at a slow pace as they both suffered from fatigue. Although IFS did reduce the deficit a little it was not enough as the clock wasn’t in their favour when they ran out of time trailing behind Hayleys by 14 points.
Full-time: IFS-31 Hayleys-45
Speaking to the coach of the winning team after the match he had this to say:” I’m happy we won the match and moreover I’m happy that we made the late Ranil Ganewatta proud.”
