ABC Sports Academy waltzed into the semi-finals of the Phoenix Sports Academy’s 3rd edition under-13 Basketball Championship 2020 at the Pride English School basketball court after an easy 42-12 victory over Abhinav School on Saturday.
An aggressive approach from both sides saw eight free throws in the first 20 minutes. ABC started off strong as they scored the first lay-up from the start. In the final two quarters, successive fast breaks from ABC left Abhinav School in the dust.
Abhinav was having a frustrating day in attack while ABC’s quick counters were constantly catching them on the wrong foot. In the first quarter, ABC just made two errors in defence and both led to free throws for Abhinav. As Abhinav got off the mark after the first, they failed to hit the basket with the second towards the end of the first quarter.
Abhinav School substituted four players after the first quarter, while ABC changed all five of their players despite having a decent lead. Lay-ups and bank shots from open play were rare in the first quarter as both teams were consistently conceding free throws. There was a paradigm shift when ABC started decimating Abhinav after netting five consecutive 2-pointers, disallowing the Abhinav boys to score even once.
After the substitutions, Abhinav were finally able to exploit the new defence and bag a few points. The ABC attack was still lethal as almost every attack earned them a couple of points.
{{/usCountry}}After the substitutions, Abhinav were finally able to exploit the new defence and bag a few points. The ABC attack was still lethal as almost every attack earned them a couple of points.
{{/usCountry}}Abhinav, a team which was desperate for cohesion, was full of confusion as the players failed to make their passes stick. As the second quarter ended and the game reached the midway point, ABC led 24-6.
Consistency was key for ABC as they did not falter throughout the game. Akhilesh Gawde came on in the third quarter and obliterated Abhinav. Gawde netted two successive lay-ups to add to Abhinav’s misery. Things went from bad to worse for Abhinav when they were awarded a free throw and yet again, they managed to blow the opportunity to add a few points to the board.
On the other hand, ABC was not ready to take their foot off the pedal. Gawde continued to haunt the Abhinav backline as he netted another composed 2-pointer. Abhinav finally managed to add to their tally from another free throw. Abhinav’s Shreyas Vakundre managed to keep his nerves and came up with two superb swishes to bring his side near the 10-point mark. ABC still managed to end the quarter on top as Gawde added another 2 points to his team’s tally.
Menacing till the last minute, ABC ended the game with 42 points and confirmed their semi-final berth, while Abhinav just managed to put 12 points on the board and crashed out of the tournament.
ABC girls enter semis
Shortly after the ABC U-13 boys’ team made it through to the last-4 of the tournament, their girls’ team thrashed Hooper’s Club 40-8 in their quarter-final encounter. Swara Wagh and Mrunmayee Hankare played an influential role in their side’s victory after both of them, individually, scored more points than the opponent’s total tally.
Wagh ended the game with 11 points to her name while Hankare scored 9. For Hooper’s Club, Antara Joshi was the top scorer as she scored half of her team’s points while Isha Kane notched 3 points. The semi-finals will take place on Sunday morning with the final scheduled for Monday.
“We have been waiting for this tournament since a year because this year we are going to play in two consecutive tournaments - this one and a district championship which will start in the second week of February. This tournament for us is like a practice before the district championship. We want to win here because, for the past four years, the winner of this tournament has gone on to win in the district championship. So, in order to get that psychological boost, we intend to win this tournament,” said Anirudh Pole, coach, ABC Sports Academy.