Hyderabad Public School registered a thrilling win in the boys' category of the Annual League cum Knockout Basketball Championship being held in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad Public School secured a hard-fought 34-29 victory over DRS International School after leading by just two points (14-12) at half-time. While HPS' attack was led by Yugal, DRS did their damage through Ashwin.
In the third quarter of the match, HPS changed their tactics, adopting a man-to-man marking to contain the dangerous drives by DRS players. The strategy paid off as DRS found it very difficult to attack the hoop.
For HPS, Yugal ended with 16 points while Shivang added 9.
For DRS, Ashwin scored 11 while Brahmaji added 6.
In a thrilling girls' encounter, St Francis Jr College pipped St Ann's High School 26-25. The match was fought on a high tempo right from the start, with both St Francis and St Ann's boasting of excellent players in their squads.
Much to the delight of the few afficionados gathered near the court, neither St Francis nor St Ann's were intimidated by each other's strength. After a high intensity first half, St Francis were tied with St Ann's at 14-all. Karuna of St Francis was partic ularly outstanding with her inci sive drive-ins while Sharanya and Rupshika combined well for St Ann's.
The neck-and-neck nature of the match continued in the sec ond half as well, as, for whatever the girls from St Francis did, their counterparts from St Ann's responded in equal vigour.
With just two minutes left for the final whistle, and with the teams locked at 24Â24, Rupshika of St Ann's got two free-throws. However, she could convert only one, giving St Ann's a slight advantage at 25Â24.
As the clock ran down, Karuna pierced through the St Ann's defence and scored a two-pointer, there by snatching a one-point win for St Francis.
