Maris Stella College and Angel International School – Jaffna booked the two slots for the championship final.
Several group matches were played on the second day prior to the two semi-finals of the tournament.
Trinity College took on the St. Michael`s College where the Kandy lads walked away with a defeat. Hosts dominated the game from the start and secured a handsome 62-32 victory.
The match between Zahira College v Wesley College ended in favour of Zahira College, 54-46. Maris Stella College continuing their fine form from day one defeated St. Peter`s College, 61-56 while Mahinda College were beaten 34-65 by Angel International School – Jaffna.
Later in the day, St. Peter`s College came back and defeated Mahinda College, 56-48. It was not the best days in office for the lads from Galle as they suffered another loss at the hands of Maris Stella College. Full time scores read, 67-52.
Zahira College, Colombo emerged champions of group A while the runner-up was St. Michael`s College. The group B slots were divided between Maris Stella College and Angel International School – Jaffna as champions and runner-up respectively.
The semi-finals of the championship were between, Mari Stella College v St. Michael`s College and Zahira College v Angel International School.
Maris Stella College v St. Michael`s College in the first semi-final turned out to be a tough contest with both the teams exploiting each other`s weaknesses.
Photo Album – Herbert Cup 2018 (Basketball) – Day 2
It witnessed a nail biting 69-67 in favour of Maris Stella College. St. Michael’s College led the maiden quarter by a point, 19-20 but the visitors outsmarted the opposition in the second quarter, 16-10.
Maris Stella finished off the third quarter by a point advantage over the hosts, 14-13. It was the final ten minutes which witnessed heavy scoring from both ends.
Maris Stella College went on to add 20 points while St. Michael`s College replied with 24. It was the 06-point deficit in the second quarter which helped Maris Stella College to step into the final victorious.
Anton Niroshan, Assistant Coach of Maris Stella College, speaking to ThePapare.com after the win said;
“It was a good match. St. Michael`s College proved to be tougher than we expected, I think what took us through is our form and our mindset from the group matches. We emerged as group champions and that positive mindset helped us to achieve the win here. We hope to repeat the same performance in the final as well.”
The second semi-final turned out to be a walk in the park for the Jaffna lads. Zahira College missed out on their form in the most crucial time. Full time scores read, 83-42.
The first ten minutes ended with a point gap but the northerners stepped on the gas from the second quarter and ran riot amongst the Zahira College defense.
Both third and fourth quarters saw Angel International School scoring 26 points which took the game completely away from Zahira College.
