Varun sparkles as Hostel power past fancied JSC

On a cloudy evening, the crowd that gathered on court number two were treated to a fine performance by the Sports Hostel boys. The Jayanagar side was better when it came to technique but Sports Hostel made up for it with a show of great teamwork, meticulous passes and a solid one-on-one defence.

After a cautious beginning, Hostel’s Varun set the pace early on. His intense fast-breaks and passes gave his side a 17-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Big men Kaushal R (16) and Pradeep Kumar (12) stepped in to jump start JSC’s scoring at the start of the second quarter. Kaushal, in particular, made and scored some points for his side but Hostel’s Rangan Gowda, charged up after a verbal duel with rival player Anil Babu, helped his side hold on to a 36-23 lead at half-time.

JSC coach Srinivasa Murthy brought in Minhal (12) in the third-quarter and the lanky lad did not disappoint. His free-flow shooting from three-point range helped JSC reduce the 13-point deficit to six points but Varun continued to breach the JSC defence as his side led 51-40 at the end of the third quarter.

Hostel, despite a last minute surge of points from Kaushal and a late show from Pradeep under the board, then held on to win comfortably.

The verbal war between Gowda and Babu did not end with the final whistle and the match officials had to intervene to prevent a fist-fight.

On court number one, Karnataka State Police looked dominant from the start in their 60-36 rout of Young Orions Sports Club. Ramakrishna (18) and Lakshman Gasthi (12) gave KSP side the neccessary thrust to notch up a 26-15 lead at half-time. Young Orions, rallying off point-guard Bharath (18), looked set take the lead in the third quarter when they reduced the deficit to 30-35 but KSP held on.

Results: Sports Hostel: 69 (Varun AR 26, Jairaj 14) bt JSC: 58 (Kaushal 16, Pradeep 12). HT: 36-23; KSP: 60 (Ramakrishna 18, Lakshman Gasthi 12) bt Young Orions Sports Club: 36 ( Bharath 18). HT: 26-15; HASC: 57 (Sachindra 14, Umashankar 11) bt ASC: 50 (Velliappan 11, Pankaj 7). HT 28-32; MEG: 51 (Sirjauddin 14, Sweto Francis 14) bt Ambedkar SC: 37 (Chandy 11). HT: 26-18.