HSC Blues fight for their rights
HSC Blues had to battle right down to the game’s final play to walk away from their basketball clash against Avant Garde ‘A’ with a heart-stopping 58-57 win, which secured them the Avant Garde Basketball Championship at the Henry Pedris courts last night.
HSC Blues won the final by one point in the final filled with excitement - Pic by Indika Handuwala
Both teams utilized contrasting styles of play, with the Blues sharing the ball well and earning points from all their players while Avant Garde relied heavily on their foreign members, particularly Filip Vukosavljevic’s.
Although he topped all scorers with 27 points, Vukosavljevic was a little too selfish at times, stagnating the offense by holding onto the ball for far too long before tossing up tough shots. Nevertheless, when he did find his groove, he succeeded in lifting his team out of deep deficits that on occasion threatened to overwhelm them.
HSC started proceedings with an offensive blitz and ended the first quarter leading 19-9 after some good work from Roshan Randima and Mithila Abeysekara, who both finished on 18 points.
Vukosavljevic then began to light things up, knocking down a 3-pointer and a couple of buckets near the basket to tie things up at 30 heading into halftime. It was then the turn of Abeysekara to pitch in with points, as he pivoted into free space and unleashed a number of fluent jump-shots.
The match though would swing once again, as a 49-43 HSC lead melted to 58-57 with six seconds left in the game. Avant Garde had the ball and a chance to win it but the Blues’ defence held strong to deny a proper inbounds pass and deliver them the title.