Defending champion Tamil Nadu survived some anxious moments in the last five minutes against Kerala before prevailing 88-77 in the men’s final of the Arise Steel 67th junior National basketball championships on Sunday.
It was a mixed day for Tamil Nadu as the women had lost in the final to Karnataka earlier.
Having maintained a decent lead through the first three quarters, Tamil Nadu just had to play it safe in the final one. But, Kerala ran the winner close, taking a couple of three-pointers and two-pointers to reduce the margin.
Kerala threatened to break Tamil Nadu’s resistance but faltered just when it mattered. International P. Baladhaneshwar and captain R. Hari Ram turned out to be the stars for the winners. The first quarter was a busy one with the lead changing hands. Tamil Nadu took it 23-16. From then on, it was mostly one-way traffic, as Tamil Nadu slowly increased the gap and at one stage, took a lead of a whopping 13 points.
On one hand, Tamil Nadu had everything going right for it, irrespective of minor hiccups and on the other, Kerala struggled as a team but for minor sparkles now and then.
Earlier, after a thrilling win over Chhattisgarh in the semifinals on Saturday, Tamil Nadu girls were expected to put up the same of kind of fight, if not better, in the title clash against Karnataka. However, that was not to be as Tamil Nadu went down rather tamely to an inspired, fast, and agile Karnataka, which remained undefeated in the tournament. The final scoreline read 64-44 in favour of Karnataka.
Tamil Nadu lacked punch, and a lacklustre performance in the third quarter, where it failed to score even one point, ruined its chances. It also missed easy baskets at crucial moments.
Karnataka kept up the tempo and closed out the match with ease. The margin could have been bigger but for Tamil Nadu managing to score a few, including a three and a two-pointer, in the final moments.
The results: Boys: Final: Tamil Nadu 88 (Hari Ram 29, Bala 19) bt Kerala 77 (Shiras 23, Prem 22); Third place: Delhi 77 (Vishal 17, Hasraj 14) bt Haryana 72 (Sonu Kumar 14).
Girls: Final: Karnataka 64 (H.M. Bhandavya 29) bt Tamil Nadu 44 (Shristi Suren 8); Third place: Maharashtra 60 (Shruti Sherigar 27) bt Chhattisgarh 58 (Vaniana 15, Gulabsha 14).
