Mizoram boys score hat-trick of triumphs, Chhattisgarh clinch girls sub-junior national basketball crown

NAGPUR: For the third year running Mizoram boys became the national sub-junior champions as Chhattisgarh stamped their authority on the girls’ crown in the 48th edition of the championship which concluded at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Puducherry on Wednesday.
The seven-day national championship for boys and girls was organised by Pondicherry Basketball Association under the aegis of Basketball Federation of India (BFI).
On their way to underline the supremacy while scoring a hat-trick of national titles, Mizoram boys made light work of Uttar Pradesh in a lop-sided summit clash 63-38 after taking a handy 31-17 lead at the breather. For the winners, Emmanuel Lalpekhlua led the scoring chart with 20 points. The Mizoram forward was well assisted by Stephan’s timely conversion of 16 points. For Uttar Pradesh, Jatin Sharma (11) was the lone cager to score in double digits.
In contrast, the girls’ summit clash between Chhattisgarh and last years’ runners-up Tamil Nadu went down the wires. In a thrilling final, Chhattisgarh rallied splendidly to get the better of Tamil Nadu 49-47 after trailing at the lemon break by six points (27-33).
For Chhattisgarh, P Antra Rao led from the front with 14 points while Rumi Konwar added 12 points. For Tamil Nadu, Charulatha was the leading scorer with 10 points.
Earlier in the bronze medal games, Maharashtra girls and Madhya Pradesh boys finished third in the national championship. In the girl’s section, Maharashtra outplayed Kerala 56-48 while Madhya Pradesh defeated Haryana by a wafer thin margin of a point 63-62.
Later in the prize distribution ceremony, president of BFI Aadhav Arjuna, secretary Kulvinder Singh Gill and all members of the federation were present.
RESULTS
FINALS (Girls): Chhattisgarh (P Antra Rao 14, Rumi Konwar 12, Divya Rangari 11) bt Tamil Nadu (Charulatha A 10) 49-47; Boys: Mizoram (Emmanuel Lalpekhlua 20, Stephan C Lalhruaitluaanga 16, Samuel Vanlalpeka 13) bt Utttar Pradesh (Jatin Sharma 11) 63-33.
Third Position (Girls): Maharashtra (Saloni Harshawardhan 16, Anusha Sontakke 14) bt Kerala (Thejas Thobhias 16) 56-48; Boys: Madhya Pradesh (Vaibhav Verma 30, Prashanth Singh15) bt Haryana (Saksham Hooda 19, Sameer Sandhu 13, Shivam 12) 63-62.