Naveen’s fine effort helped Nationals, Mysore claim a 59-50 win over Pinakini, Gowribidanur in the boys section of the State Junior basketball championship for the Dr DN Rajanna Trophy at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium outdoor courts here on Friday.
Naveen, who scored 26 points, was the star of the day as Nationals erased a one-point deficit (13-14) at the end of the first quarter for a comfortable win in the end.
The Mysore outfit staved off their rivals’ resistance in the second quarter and went ahead by three points to lead 27-24 at half time. Pinakini were still in the game with Srinath converted some good baskets in the third period. But Naveen had other ideas as he scored 10 points on the trot, including two three-pointers, to put Nationals in total control of the match. 
Vishakh, who scored 15 points and Manjeeth, who contributed with seven points, gave Naveen good support, while Srinath (22 points) and Ravichandran (11) put up brave resistance for Pinakini.
Results: Mangalore BC: 40 (Karthik Pai 8, Vivek D’souza 9) bt YFBC, Kolar: 22 (Nandesh 12, Nagesh 6). HT: 25-15. Kanaka, Kolar: 48 (Harish 25, Vishvanath 10) bt K S Hegde, Mangalore: 24 (Keerthan 13, Madhav 7). HT 13-14. Nationals, Mysore: 59 (Vishakh 15, Naveen 26, Manjeeth 7) bt Pinakini, Gowribidanur: 50 (Srinath 22, Ravichandran 11). HT: 27-24. Falcons: 56 (Varadhan 16, Dilip 14) bt Devanga Union: 25 (Harshavardhana 13). HT: 29-16. Bharath Sports Union: 33 (Parsva 12, Adeendhran 6) bt Vimanapura SC: 30 (Praveen 9). HT: 9-11.