Sanathnagar Basketball Club soar into final of Club league Championship

Sanathnagar Basketball Club roared into the final of the Club league Championship conducted by the Hyderabad District Basketball Association defeating Victory Playground 80-77 in a pulsating tie at the Secunderabad YMCA grounds. Trailing 34-35 at the halftime in a match of fluctuating fortunes, Sanathnagar recovered to lead 75-65 with four minutes for regulation time but succumbed to the pressure of Victory Playground and squandered a winning position with the scores tied at 77. However, a successful free throw and fast break saw them eke out a well-deserved win.

Salla Prasad of Victory Playground once again stole the show with a superlative performance as he not only kept his players on the attack but also showed remarkable anticipation and guile as he was able to intercept many passes of the winners. With veteran Amruthraj coming in good with three pointers, the diminutive Naveen and shooter Salman chipping in with handy performances, the Victory Playground players fought back gallantly only to fall at the final whistle.

Nikhil Kumar and Shiva Teja, who have been mainstays of Sanathangar’s progress through the Championship, were once again in their limelight rattling the defence and scoring from positions which at time looked difficult. Prudhvi controlled the boards while Sai and Naveed came up with supportive roles. In as evenly contested first half Sanathnagar trailed by a point (34-35) before taking advantage of the tiring Victory players.  In a late resurgence, the losers made a fine effort not only to draw level but also forged ahead only to squander the lead in the final 40 seconds of the game. Earlier, Victory Playground reserved their best for the second half half against Secunderabad Club in a pre-quarterfinal clash which they won 72-55 after leading 36-35 at the halftime.

In another match, Hoopsters Club comprising veteran players of various departments shrugged off their initial hesitancy and stepped up their game in the final minutes of the game to surprise Omega Basketball Club 58-53 after trailing 28-36 at the halftime. The Secunderabad Club players relied on their speed to break the Victory Playground defence but failed left large gaps in their zonal defence allowing Jaswanth to sink in three pointers. Though Aman and Rohan were braking through for baskets, it was the team's poor defence that put paid to their hopes. Jaswanth who score 15 points in the game got all of them from five successful 3 point attempts.

Veteran Salla Prasad once again was in his elements and his guidance put the Victory players in sight of a win early on the third half as he sent in passes to Salman and Naveen who capitalised on any opportunity and enabled VPG go into a position of comfort during the 3rd and 4th quarters. Vidhura was the lone player to fight out in defence for Secunderabad Club.
In the other quarterfinal played, Omega after their stunning performance against Nizam Basketball Academy in an earlier match succumbed to the experience of the Hoopsters team led by Ramakrishna Reddy and Venkatesh. Arun Kumar and Sai Kumar were a pale shadow of themselves and it was ultimately Praneeth and Harsha to take on the mantle and be ahead for a major part of the game.   Omega however have themselves to blame missing 4 free throws in the final minute of the game.

Brief Scores:

Sanathnagar Basketball Club 80 (Nikhil 26, Shiva Teja 20, Prudhvi 14, Naveed 11) bt Victory Playground 77 (S. Prasad 14, Jaswanth 12, Amruthraj 15, Naveen Yadav 12)

VPG 75 (S. Prasad 18, Salman 16, Jaswanth 15) bt Secunderabad Club 55 (Aman 17, Rohan 15, Vidhura 11)

Hoopsters Club 54 (Venkatesh 17, Ramakrishna Reddy 17, Ravi 11) bt Omega Club 53 (Praneeth 22, Harsha 13, Srinivas 9)