LALITPUR: Himalayan White House International College and Golden Gate International College claimed the JCI Cup Basketball Championships here today.

In a seasaw final held at the Bal Dikshya Sadan premises, White House registered a narrow 65-57 win over Golden Gate College to win the boys’ championship. Golden Gate, however, thrashed Xavier International College 58-20 to win the girls’ title.

In the boys’ final, White House made a spectacular start, scoring 21 against four points of Golden Gate in the first quarter. Golden Gate bounced back in contention in the next quarter, adding 18 points while restricting White House to just five points. Golden Gate were trailing by only four points (26-22) going into the third round.

Golden Gate reduced the deficit to just two points (41-39) in the third quarter netting 17 against the 15 of their opponents but White House hit back when it really mattered. White House scored 24 and conceded 18 points to Golden Gate in the final quarter, meaning they won by eight-point margin. Robin Khatri and Ajay Manandhar contributed 17 points each for White House while Sanjaya Byanjankar netted 16 points for Golden Gate.

In the girls’ final, Golden Gate were never in trouble in their 58-20 win over Xavier International. They opened up a huge gap early on in the first quarter (19-6) and extended their lead even further netting 12 against the four of their opponents in the second. By the end of the third quarter, they were comfortably placed at 48-18 before completing the formality by adding another 10 against the two points of their opponents in the final quarter. Maya Syangten, who finished as the highest scorer of the tournament, top scored in the match with 23 points for Golden Gate. Sima Karki netted 13 points for Xavier International.

Sima was also declared the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament. Chetan Gurung of Golden Gate won the MVP award in the boys’ section. Sadish Pradhan of Prime College ended up as the highest scorer (138). Pradhan was also honoured with the Most Outstanding Performance award.