Bombay Scottish (Mahim) defeated Divine Child High School (Andheri) 21-20 to enter the semi-finals of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) girls' U-16 inter-school basketball tournament at the St Dominic Savio High School (Andheri) courts yesterday.
Scottish forward Anjali Narain led the scoring charts with 7 points in a closely fought contest. Anjali was well supported by centre Simran Subramanium (4 points) and Esha Parulkar (4 points) who also did some good work in defence and collected rebounds with ease.
Players of Bombay Scottish, Mahim (in blue) and Divine Child, Andheri during their quarter-final yesterday. Pic/Nimesh Dave
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Scottish started on a bright note, taking a six-point lead in the first quarter (6-0) and 13-year-old Anjali made her presence felt, keeping Divine Child’s key player Shrima Shetty at bay.
The Andheri school’s Anushka Tawade (4 points) missed the basket on four occasions in the second quarter. Nevertheless, they came back strongly in the third quarter by narrowing the gap 12-15. In the fourth quarter, Divine Child’s Anshikha Kanojia (6 points) kept her team’s hopes alive as they narrowed down the deficit to 19-20.
With barely 42 seconds remaining, Rinisha Fernandes (4 points) equalised for Divine Child but their excitement was short-lived as Anjali scored the winner in the dying moments.
“It was a very close match. After we had a 6-0 lead in the first quarter, we committed a lot of errors, allowing our opponents to close the gap. We finished fifth last season losing to eventual winners VIBGYOR High (Goregaon). This year, I hope we continue to play well and win the title,” said Anjali.
Scottish coach Nizar Ahmed Koya said: “We won the MSSA girl’s U-16 title three years ago. But since then the team hasn’t done well. I hope this win boosts their morale to do well in the tournament. Today, Anjali no doubt, had the edge over others, but it was a collective effort,” said Koya.u00a0
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