Carlton Cup 2012 heats up in its second week

Wednesday, 7 November 2012 00:46 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Carlton Cup 2012 basketball championship concluded its second week over the weekend at the Police Park basketball courts (on Saturday) and at the newly reconstructed Henry Pedris basketball courts (on Sunday) where the U-14 schools tournament also took centre court.

Over 50 schools participated in the first round of the schools tournament. This is a great opportunity for the school players as they were able to showcase their talents and skills and to their bring credit to their respective schools.

The schools tournament was embraced by all the players as they competed with great spirit and showcased their skills. The schools tournament will commence again on 10 and 11 November 2012 at the Henry Pedris Basketball courts, Colombo.

Meanwhile, the main ‘A’ and ‘B’ divisions tournament also reached a competitive high as the leading teams in the tournament took centre court, with two ‘B’ division matches and one ‘A’ division match played on Saturday, after the conclusion of the schools tournament at the Police Park basketball court and the Amal International basketball court.

The first match was played between the All Greens and the Mullativu Basketball Club where the All Greens basketball club emerged winners as they won 90-37. The second match saw the Buffalos’ ‘A’ basketball team beat the Michealites team by 70-52.

The Sri Lanka Navy Basketball team took on the Otter Aquatic club team at the Police Park basketball courts. The contest was a growling encounter as both teams refused to go down without a fight. The sailors led the contest at the halftime whistle as they were ahead by two points, 41-39 against the Otter’s team.

The Sri Lanka Navy basketball team has produced some sterling performances throughout the two weeks of the tournament and they had improved by leaps and bounds in comparison with last year’s performances.  

However the Otter’s team used the vast experience they have obtained, playing at the highest levels to rally in the final seconds of the match to win 82-86. Isuru Perara with 27 points and Devon Roberts with 24 points led the attack for the winners while Timothy with 24 points and Charith with 17 points were valuable contributors for the sailors.

The HSC Blues basketball team took on the Sri Lanka Police basketball team on Sunday, 4 November in the opening club match at the newly reconstructed Henry Pedris basketball courts. The Henry Pedris basketball courts now possess state-of-the-art equipment and are considered as the best facility to host basketball matches in the country.

The match between the HSC Blues and the Sri Lanka Police team was a hard-fought encounter as both teams failed to find the basket for most of the game. However the HSC Blues team dominated the match for most of the 40 minutes, leading by nine points at the halftime break, 35-26.

The missed opportunities kept coming during the second period as the Police team started to dominate the game for a small period, cutting down the lead to six points at one stage. Yet the HSC Blues team held its nerve and kept their composure to emerge winners beating the Police team by 67-51.

Prageeth Pushpakumara with 18 points and Thivanka Perera with 12 points were the leading points scorers for the winners while Sujeewa Wijeweera  with 13 points and Shehan with  12 points were the leading points scorers for the policemen.

In the second match of the day, the reigning champions Colombo Basketball Club took on the Sri Lanka Air Force basketball team. The second match also followed the path of the first match as this was also a low scoring game with both teams failing to dominate for longer periods of the game.

However the Colombo Basketball team dominated the airmen as they led 31-20 at the halftime whistle and emerged winners over the airmen with the final score at 65-34.

The Colombo team had dominating performances by Praneeth Udumalagala with 16 points and Sanjeewa Kalawina with 10 points while Anthony Wenito with 10 points and Umayanga with six points were the leading scorers for the airmen.

The tournament will obtain some added flavor in the third week with the team from the Maldives entering the championship. This will be the first time that an overseas club team will be competing in a Sri Lankan tournament.

The Sri Lanka Air Force team took on the Peterite ‘A’ team while the HSC Blacks played against the Police basketball team last evening at the Henry Pedris basketball courts.

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