U-13 district championship: Millennium fail to capitalise on Loyola’s turnovers in high-scoring quarterfinal

Loyola High School dominated the rebounds against Millennium, to win a tough match and secure semi-final berth

In an end-to-end game that ebbed and flowed from the very first minute between two basketball powerhouses - Loyola’s High School and Millennium High School - it was the former that ended up securing a berth in the semi-finals of the 9th late Rajabhau Chitale memorial under-13 district championship at the Deccan Gymkhana, with a 34-24 victory.

Loyola High School (black) in action against Millennium High School on Wednesday, at the under-13 district championship being played at Deccan Gymkhana courts. (SANKET WANKHADE/HT PHOTO)

When two evenly matched sides collide, more often than not, sparks fly and tempers flare and that was evident in the first quarter, as both teams looked to overpower their opponents with their physical prowess.

However, there was only one winner in this department with the Loyola’s players winning a number of rebounds in the paint. Where they fell short was the number of times they gave the ball away in and around the centre circle, giving Millennium a number of opportunities to hit them on the counter-attack.

This was Millennium coach Dasharath Birhamane’s plan from the offset and despite seeing his players create a plethora of chances and 3v2 opportunities, they lacked the end product to seize the advantage. With the lead looking dicey late on in the third quarter, Loyola’s coach Jason George asked his players to focus on defence as they soaked in all the pressure, before hitting Millennium on the break.

Going into the fourth, it was only a six-point game with the score at 14-20, but Loyola managed to add to their cushion by altering the game plan which saw them remain solid to make it 34-24 at the final whistle.

Results: Quarter-final

Girls

Sardar Dastur 25 ( Anaya Bhavsar 8 , Prachi Kamble 4 ) beat Sanjay Sawant Basketball Academy 2 ( Xena Antao 2 ) Half Time 15 - 2

Chondhe Patil Academy 27 ( Sara Chopade 13 , 6Aastha Bhattacharaya 6 ) beat Millennium School 25 ( Avanti Hulawale 14 , Riya Patwardhan 4 ) Half Time 10 - 8

St Marys ‘A’ 34 ( . Arusha Navani 12 , Alisha Dhoot 8 ) beat Hoopers 26 ( Ridhisha Agarwal 15 , Pragati Nawale 6 ) Half Time 17 - 8

Deccan Gymkhana 32 ( Janhavi Kakade 15 , Akshaya Patil 9 ) beat Vibgyor 18 ( Aditi Khadilkar 6 , Naavya Agrawal 4 ) Half Time 18 - 10

Boys

Sanjay Sawant Basketball Academy 53 ( Tanishq Chavan 14 , Zain Lakhani 8 ) beat Vidyanchal ‘A’ 20 ( Archit Pingale 12 , Ninad Kulkarni 4 ) Half Time 26 - 4

Deccan Gymkhana 40 ( Megh Atre 16 , Neil Devadkar 8 ) beat St Marys 24 ( Dhruv Pande 6 , Vir Thapar 4 ) Half Time 24 - 20

Anirudha Basketball Club ‘A’ 41 ( Manit Agarwal 20 , Aman Bhaiya 10 ) beat ISST 15 ( Shreyas Gadgil 6 , ) Half Time 22 - 7

Loyola 34 (. Adesh Gupta 15 , Divij Kashalikar 6 ) beat Millennium School 24 ( Ankur Shah 12 , Half Time 8 - 4