Gateway beat Joes to win Under-17 title
Gateway College beat St. Joseph’s College by a point in a thrilling final to win the All Island Schools Under-17 Division ‘A’ Basketball Championship at the Gateway courts in Rajagiriya. Gateway and St. Joseph’s battled it out with high intense from the beginning of the Cup final as the eventual winners managed to finish off their campaign with an unbeaten record.
Nikhil Jayasinghe - Best Defensive Player
Mirtesh Thurairajah - Most Valuable Player
The Gateway team that remained unbeaten throughout the tournament and displayed tremendous courage and commitment both at the semi-final where they beat Lyceum Nugegoda 64-61 and the final where the margin was 75-74. The nail-biting final saw the scores tied at full time at 67-67 but Gateway cagers held their nerves together to win by 75-74 during the extended five minutes.
Captain Chavaan de Costa played a pivotal role in the tournament by providing good leadership to his teammates that included Nikhil Jayasinghe, the vice captain, Iqram Iqbal, Mirthesh Thurairajah, Thiasha Rathnayake, Tharin Ranawake, Humam Rezk, Akalanka Gunaratne, Yacoob Mohammed, J’shan Ahamadeen, Nethum Ranawake and Akindu Galappaththi. During the preliminary rounds, Gateway beat S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia by 57-37 and Lyceum International School Wattala 96-51 before beating St. Peter’s College by 61-41 in the quarters. Gateway’s Mirtesh Thurairajah was named the Most Valuable Player and Nikhil Jayasinghe won the award for the Best Defensive Player of the Tournament. Shehan Fernando of St. Joseph’s was named the Best Offensive Player. - NA
The champion Gateway Basketball team with officials