Himalayan News Service

Lalitpur, July 7:

Rishi Robertson top-scored with 22 points but could not save Everest South Siders from going down 52-54 to Rhododendron International Boarding School (RIBS) in the semi-final of the second Annual Father Watrin Men’s Basketball Championship here today. In the other semis, Sushil Gurung netted 25 points as White House International College thrashed Kathmandu Don Bosco 84-60. Anil Maharjan opened the scoring for HWHIC in the seventh second. He had the first basket with a three-pointer and scored five three-pointers in the match. Don Bosco had a slow start and scored only 11 points replying to HWHIC’s 25 in the first quarter. Maharjan netted four three-pointers in the first quarter alone. In the second quarter, Don Bosco took one-point lead, making it 33-46 with Niraj Singh Rathore’s three-pointer, and two points each from Nima Dorji Lama, Manish, Sushil Gurung and Sujan Shrestha. The HWHIC players made it 66-43. With just five seconds remaining for the third quarter, Sujan Shrestha’s free throw helped HWHIC add one point to their 65.

With only six seconds remaining for the final whistle, Sujan netted the last basket, leading White House to a 84-60 win. Earlier, the South Siders dominated the field almost throughout the match but their lackluster performance in second quarter let them down. Both the teams played a competitive match with the South Siders taking an one-point lead in the first quarter.

In the meantime, Rishi got involved in an argument with RIBS players after the former committed a foul, halting the match for about three minutes during the first quarter. The South Siders could not maintain the lead and were restricted to just five points, and RIBS added another 14 points to make it 25-17 by the end of the second quarter. It was the South Siders again, who came back with a six-point lead in the third quarter. Anil Gurung netted nine points, including a three-pointer whereas Rishi had seven. RIBS players added 12 points in the third quarter, making it 37-35. The last quarter saw both teams scoring 17 points each. At one stage, the match was tied at 52 each but a basket from Tendor Hirachan at the dying moments led RIBS to victory. The 16-day tournament has been organised by GAA in association with The Himalayan Times.