Kerala Basketball Championships: Ernakulam wins men's tournament; Trivandrum crowned women's champions

Trivandrum also reached the final in the men’s tournament, where they faced defeat.

The 68th Senior State Kerala Basketball Championships took place at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Kadvanthara, Ernakulam. Trivandrum headlined both the finals, they lost to the home side Ernakulam by 65-70 in men’s category and won the women’s category by 50-43 against Palakkad. The best players from this tournament will represent Kerala at the Senior Nationals Basketball Championship in Bhavnagar.

Ernakulam’s win was a close one led by Anthony Johnson who scored 23 points and recorded 10 rebounds. Muhammed Shiras Noushad also scored 15 points on 40% from the perimeter. For Trivandrum, former Indian team player Sejin Mathew led the way with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Nandhu Kumar and Grigo Varghese were other players who stood out from the runners-up.

Apart from the final, Ernakulam dominated the tournament throughout. A proof of that will be their victories in the competition, which had a gap of at least 10 points. Trivandrum, on the other, had close encounters in the start but then took off to make their way to the finals.

In the women’s category, Trivandrum made sure to take the trophy home. Annesha Cleetus and Sreekala R were dominant as ever with 12 and 10 points to their name for Trivandrum. Susan Florentina also ruled the boards by grabbing 24 rebounds.

No player on the Palakkad team crossed the double-digit mark on points. Joma Gejo, Jayalakshmi VJ, Chippy Mathew and Aiswarya Sabu each scored 9 points.

Trivandrum started the game with 7-0 lead to eventually won the first quarter by 18-7. Vijaylakshmi VS sprang to life in the second quarter and went on to score nine consecutive points, but then failed to score another point in the remainder of the game.

Palakkad did come close in the third quarter by 6 points, but once Trivandrum got going there was no one stopping them from taking the championship home.

Also Read: BFI shifts Sub-Junior basketball nationals from Maharashtra to Hyderabad

Best players in 69th Kerala Basketball Championships

Men’s tournament

Noyal Jose from Kottayam had a stellar outing, at one point he led the tournament in all metrics. He crossed the 20-point mark twice in the tournament with very efficient shooting. Other players who caught the attention were Thrissur’s Jeo Lonappan and Trivandrum’s Nandhu A Kumar.

From the players who have been regulars for Kerala, Sejin Matthew failed to impress throughout the tournament but then went ballistic in the finals. Muhammed Shiras Noushad and Antony Johnson also had a great outing as well, Johnson’s play making was on showcase while Muhammed Shiras Noushad was constantly on the scoresheet adding points to his name.

Women’s tournament

Kottayam’s Irin Elsa John’s two games against Kannur and Ernakulam were stellar where it looked like, she’ll never miss a shot near the basket. She was also active under the board grabbing rebounds. Akshaya Phillip took over the scoring charge after Irin John cooled down as the tournament progressed.

Aneesha Cleetus was the best player as she has been for a long time, sharing the same team as Kavitha Jose, Sreekala and Susn Florentina making they were a force to be reckoned with. Aside from the Chippy Mathew and Jayalakshmi also didn’t fail to impress.

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