s fight back attitude to sail into the girls final of the 60th junior national basketball championships being played here at Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
On its way to final, Kerala beat Karnataka 89-65, to set up title clash with Chattisgarh who defeated Tamil Nadu 93-62, in the other semifinal of the day.
Kerala’s key to success in the match today were its two sharp shooters--Soniya Joy and Neenu Mol PS. The duo not only contributed 38 points to the team’s total, but added points to the tally when it matter most.
The eventual winners had a lead of five points (42-37) over its rival at the break, but Soniya and Neenu’s excellent shooting skills under the rival basket further enhanced the lead to 89-65, when the final whistle blew.
Joy individual score in the match was 23,while Neenu netted 15 points. Kerala’s skipper Stephy Nixon also added 11 points to the total.
Navneetha PU (15) and Victoria BA (14) mainly scored for Karnataka.
In the Chattisgarh-Tamil Nadu match, former combined well to oust latter to keep its date for the final.
Initially, Chattisgarh faced stiff challenge from its rival, but as the match progressed, Tamil Nadu cagers for reasons best known to them began losing its grip over the match, making more errors then expected to pave way for its opponent win.
Chattisgarh cagers had in fact, smelled victory at the end of the third quarter when they were leading by 70-47.
Since Tamil Nadu cagers failed to raise the level of their game in the last quarter, it proved to be a mere formality for the eventual winners.
Results.
Girls (Semifinals):
Kerala 89 (Soniya Joy 23, Neenu Mol PS 15, Stephy Nixon 11) bt Karnataka 65 (Navneetha PU 15, Victoria BA 14, Sandhya M 9).
Chattisgarh 92 (L Deepa 35, Pushpa 14, Kavita 13) bt Tamil Nadu 62 (RS Karpaagam 14, S Santoshnidevi 12).
Boys (Semifinals):
