PANAJI: Lourdes Basketball Club (LBC) and YMCA Infiknights clinched title in the men’s and women’s section respectively, at the Goa state basketball championships at Don Bosco Oratory indoor stadium, here recently.
In a thrilling title clash, Lourdes clearly showed that they are a notch above their opponents, defeating KJs by 19-point margin to establish themselves as the new heroes of basketball in Goa.
In a packed DBO indoor hall, with most backing the youthful vigour and speed of Lourdes over the experience of KJs, it was clear from the start, that the game was indeed in the favour of LBC boys.
The young fiery cagers of LBC kept widening the lead at each quarter, with a packed defence, not giving space to KJs to penetrate to the rim. The surprise turner, Jason Nathan (18) scored the highest for LBC, followed by Jeshua Pinto (15) and Bavish Bijoy (14). It was clearly the captain Jeshua’s inspiration that got him the MVP of the event. For KJs, Himanshu Singh gave a strong opposition netting 24 points, with support from Shiv Kumar Uandgoti (10). In the end, LBC the clear favourites stole the show.
In the women’s category, it was a neck and neck fight between Sonics and YMCA Infiknights. Sonics had a slender lead of a point in the first quarter, which the Infiknights managed to turn in their favour in the second and third quarter. And with scores level in the last 20 seconds to full time, it was the basket of Sarah Hussain (10) that swung the odds in Infiknights favour to be declared as the State Champions. Amisha Lotlikar (18) was declared the MVP of the match. Shimei Nathan (12) played well for Sonics.
