BVM, Trimurti Nagar, girls and Sandipani School CBSE boys recorded victories in contrasting fashion to win the Jr NBA inter-school U-14 basketball tournament at the Nagpur University courts on Thursday.
In the girls’ Final, BVM, Trimurti Nagar, outplayed Centre Point School, Katol Road, 36-11 with Sameeksha Chandak (14), Swanandi Nagmote (8) and Avani Banthia (6) scoring most of the baskets for the winners. With this win the BVM girls retained the NBA title that they won for the firsttime last year.
In the boy’s final, Sandipani School CBSE defeated Montfort School 30-28. For Sandipani, Sarthak Dhuldhule (10), Samrat Taral (10) and Chirayu (8) scored the baskets while Soham Jane (8), Vivek Yadav (8) and Vishnu Kalmegh (6) played well for Montfort School.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) organizers of World Best Basketball League in America conducted its comprehensive youth basketball initiative for three days in the city. After a daylong skills challenge event, the two-day matches were played.
As many as 49 schools from across the city participated in the knockout tournament. The event was conducted under the watchful eyes of International Jr NBA Coach Marko Lepovic – an accomplished coach who has been involved in training in three countries — Serbia, Norway, and the United States.
The grassroots basketball initiative is for school going boys and girls was part of the Reliance Foundation Jr NBA program. The Nagpur District Basketball Association (NDBA) provided all the local support.
In the opening day of the three-day event, the American association made the school students in both the boys and girls’ category work out in a Skills Challenge at the twin courts of Nagpur University at Ravi Nagar. Players in three age categories above 10 years participated in the event which was free for all the schools.
On February 26 and 27, a two-day inter-school basketball championship for U-14 boys and girls was organized.
President of NDBA Sandeep Joshi, secretary Bhavesh Kuchanwar and other members congratulated the winners and thanked the NBA for organising the event in the city.
RESULTS (Jr NBA U-14 basketball)
Girls (Final): BVM, Trimurti Nagar, (Sameeksha Chandak 14, Swanandi Nagmote 8, Avani Banthia 6) bt Centre Point School, Katol Road, (Sufu Bhatnagar 4) 36-11 (14-3, 6-4, 3-2, 13-2).
Semifinals: BVM, Trimurti Nagar, (Sameeksha Chandak 17, Avani Banthia 6) bt Saraswati Vidyalaya (Devika 7) 33-7 (10-0, 7-2, 6-3, 10-2); Centre point School, Katol Road, (Pahel Javeri 8) by BVM< Srikrishna Nagar (Samrudhi Agrawal6, Parnavi Dadhe 6) 21-18 (4-2, 10-8, 4-4, 3-4)
Boys (Final): Sandipani School CBSE (Sarthak Dhuldhule 10, Samrat taral 10, Chirayu 8) bt Montfort School (Soham Jane 8, Vivek yadav 8, Vishnu Kalmegh 6) 30-28 (8-4, 10-10, 6-6, 6-8).
Semifinals: Sandipani School CBSE (Arvind Rathi 9, Sarthan Dhuldhule 8) bt Modern School, Umred, (Faizan Ansari 7) 29-21 (2-2, 7-6, 13-4, 7-10); Montfort School (Vishu Kalmegh 14, Soham Jane 8) bt Hadas School CBSE (Aryan Dudhmogre 14) 36-32 (13-10, 7-7, 10-6, 6-9).