A resilient Mumbai Warriors produced a strong dominant second half performance to carve out a well-deserved 91-68 victory against Pune Panthers in a junior boys semi-final match of the Basketball Network Academy (BNA) organised Junior Basketball League 2022 for the ageasFEDERAL Trophy, at the Dr. Muthukumar Basketball Court, Indian Gymkhana, on Sunday evening. The tournament is being conducted under the auspices of the Maharashtra State Basketball Association & in association with Indian Gymkhana.
In the second semi-final, Nashik Lions comfortably defeated Aurangabad Eagles 71-54 after leading 37-24 at half-time.
In the Junior Girls’ semi-final clashes, Palghar Tigers knocked the sting out of Ratnagiri Vipers clinching a 67-43 win (half-time: 31-16) and Nagpur Blasters quashed the challenge from Mumbai Warriors by snatching a 81-72 victory (half-time: 42-26).
The Pune boys started in promising fashion and enjoyed a slight edge in the first two quarters to gain a slender 31-28 lead at the break.
However, on resumption the Mumbai Warriors returned a transformed side and found the hoop at regular intervals to completely dominate the third period scoring a high 37points as against 16 by the Panthers to take a healthy (65-47) lead. The Warriors maintained the momentum in the final period to complete a commendable win and a place in the final.
For the Mumbai team the leading scores were Dev Premi 31 points, Shaikh Basit 26 points, and Siddhant Doshi 13 points, while Pune Panthers got their points through Devang Pawar 18 points and Sahil Dhanawate 15 points.
Semi-final results: Junior Girls: Palghar Tigers (Samaira Bhalla 24, Rutuja Nalawade 13, Dia Chauhan10) beat Ratnagiri Vipers (Harshali Jadhav 14, Ishita Sharda 12) — 67-43 (half-time: 31-16).
Nagpur Blasters (Lavanya Moti 27, Khushi Solanki 22, Muskaan Ajmani 13, Shrushti More 12) beat Mumbai Warriors (Gajalakshmi Shaktivel 34, Asiya Khan 13, Jiya Singh 13) — 81-72 (half-time: 42-26).
Junior Boys: Mumbai Warriors (Dev Premi 31, Shaikh Basit 26, Siddhant Doshi 13) beat Pune Panthers (Devang Pawar 18, Sahil Dhanawate 15) — 91-68 (half-time: 28-31).
Nashik Lions (Shivraj Patel 28, Vinay Chauhan 16, Bharat Vanjare 13) beat Aurangabad Eagles (Rakesh Jaiswar 16, Aagam Jain 12, Yash Mathapati 12) — 71-54 (half-time: 37-24).