Cool Jayaliya Kumari’s exploits give Josephians BC an unexpected win

20-year-old Jayaliya Kumari’s calm and composed attitude, when under pressure, awarded Josephains’ BC a nail biting two point win over the experienced and strong Track Master side in an "A" Division match of the women’s section in the Colombo Super League 2003 basketball tournament played at St. Joseph’s Girls’ School, Nugegoda, yesterday. Before yesterday’s game, both the sides had remained unbeaten in the competition and with the recent result, Josephians BC became the Group champions while the losers ended up as the Group runners up. Both the teams will meet in the finals of the women’s competition.

Track Master, with a star studded side, came in as the favourites to win yesterday’s competition and managed to maintain a lead all along except in the last few seconds. At the short whistle, Track Master were leading 44-34 and were sitting comfortably hoping for an easy win, but the unexpected happened in the dying moments of the game when the Josephian players put pressure and forced the experienced Track Master side into mistakes. At the end Josephians won the game by a mere two points with the scoreboard reading 69-67.

The main architect of the victory was Jayaliya Kumari, who through some tight defending and perfect control of the situation pulled the game through for her side. For the winners, Prasadini Wijesinghe top scored with 20 points while Rukshika Wijesinghe and Jayaliya Kumari netted 12 points each. For the losers, Premila Fernando top scored with 19 points while Danuskha Wijesinghe and Inoka Sandamali scored 14 points apiece.

Meanwhile at the Depot Police Courts, Bambalapitya, Maroons BC beat Maharagama BC by five points in another exciting game to book a place in the semi-finals of the Men’s "B" Division competition. The final score was 64-59. At half time, the scores were equal 37-37. For the winners, Mithila Abeysekara scored 37 points. For the losers, Rachitha Vithanage netted 16.

NYSC too booked a place in the semis when they beat Dehiwala BC by 20 points at the same venue yesterday. The winners lead 45-26 at half time and won the game 76-56. For the winners, Ifthaz Nazir top scored with 26 points while Mithilan Rajendran excelled for the losers scoring 22 points.