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U-16 basketball: Deccan Gymkhana C- team defeats Maharashtriya Mandal 36-31 to enter pre-quarters
Flurry of baskets in last quarter gives Deccan Gymkhana C-team entry into pre-quarter-finals
Marking opponent team’s lead scorer Diya Sethiya helped Deccan Gymkhana C-team to script 36-31 victory over Maharashtriya Mandal to enter the per quarter-final of the Sanjay Mahadeo Nimhan Memorial under-16 district basketball championship held at Deccan Gymkhana on Thursday.
Trailing with four points in the first quarter, Deccan Gymkhana rallied into the game steadily to pull out the victory.
In the first quarter, it was a flurry of baskets from Sethiya which gave Maharashtriya Mandal four points lead with score reading 18-14.
From the second quarter, Deccan Gymkhana played it smartly and marked Sethiya neatly which halted Maharashtriya Mandal’s scoring.
“We realised that only one player – Sethiya is scoring for them so we marked her and it helped us to move ahead into the game,” said Prasad Yeravdekar, coach of Deccan Gymkhana C-team.
Sethiya looked helpless on most of the occasion as two defenders of Deccan Gymkhana kept blocking her.
“I was tired after the first half and that’s why I could not score baskets. From this match I learnt that I need to play well when the team is under pressure,” said Sethiya.
Things started to look brighter for Deccan Gymkhana as their players Ashmika Badade and Janhavi Kakade kept scoring baskets in tandem.
It was looking like that home team Deccan Gymkhana team will control the game but back to back injuries to Kakade and Akshaya Patil put breaks on Deccan Gymkhana scoring.
“Injuries slowed down our game but girls did manage to put a good show,” added Yeravdekar.
In the final quarter, Gymkhana girls came out with an attacking format – thanks to timely baskets from Kakade which helped them to script five points victory.
Badade’s baskets in every quarter played a crucial role in Deccan Gymkhana C-team’s victory.
“I feel girls need to improve on passing and shooting formats. All are good listeners and hardworking I hope they will improve in their performance,” added Yeravdekar.
Coaches say:
Pratik Jadhav, coach Maharashtriya Mandal
We could not maintain the lead after the first quarter. The team relied on our lead player Diya, her performance makes difference. This was the first time our team participated in the under-16 event.
Prasad Yeravdekar, coach Deccan Gymkhana C
In the first half, the passing of the ball among players was not up to the mark and team was rushing on the ball which made a lot of errors. In the second half, our team came out with a much better strategy
