Wattala Seylan Bank win Men's and Women's 'A' Division titles

By Lal Gunasekera

BASKETBALL: Wattala BC and Seylan Bank won the Men's and Women's 'A' Division titles respectively at the Colombo Super League Championships of the Colombo District Basketball Association (CDBA) at the Depot Police courts, Bambalapitiya last Friday.

Wattala won the Men's 'A' Division title beating Police 67-57 in a closely contested game after being led 27-31 at half time with Prageeth Pushpakumara (14) and Dilan Perera (10) turning out to be the match winners, while Vajira Kumarasinghe (15), Sujith Master (10) and Ravi Cooray (7) were the best for the Policemen.

Seylan Bank won the Women's 'A' Division title beating Track Masters 77-39 after leading 43-19 at the short whistle with Inoka Sandamali (26), Premila Fernando (18) and Danushka Wijesinghe (16) the top scorers, while Kumarine Silva (10) and Shashikala Romain (10) did their best for Track Masters.

Pradeep Pushpakumara of Wattala BC and Inoka Sandamali of Seylan Bank were adjudged the Best cagers among the Men and Women in the 'A' Division.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) General Manager of Seylan Bank, Ajith Pasqual was the chief guest.

In the semi-finals of the Men's 'A' Division, Police beat Colombo Bulls 74-67 after leading 32-20 at the breather, while Wattala BC beat Colombo BC 80-67 after leading 47-38 at half time. In the semi-finals of the Women's 'A' Division, Track Masters beat Paulians 62-53 after leading 22-19 at the breather, while Seylan Bank won the other.

Ambalangoda BC won the Men's 'B' Division title beating Jayawardenepura BC 74-56 after leading 31-22 at lemons with Harshadeva Yasaratne (25), Gemunu Sandaruwan (23) and Banu Ratnayake (15) being the main scorers, while Pasan Ranasinghe (18) and Nuwanga Perera (11) were the best for the losers.

In the semi-finals, Ambalangoda beat Nugegoda Cagers 71-67 after leading 30-21 at half time, while Jayawardenepura BC beat Red Devils 74-59 leading at the short blast.

David Pieris Motor Company (DPMC) won the Women's 'B' Division title beating Josephians 47-30 after leading 18-12 at the breather with Shalika Gomes (22) and Erandi Gallage (10) being the main scorers, while Solange Gunawijaya (10) and Prasadi Fonseka (8) were the pick for the Josephians. In the semi-finals, DPMC beat Stallions 49-24 after leading 23-7 at half time, while Josephians beat University of Kelaniya 81-72 after leading 41-31 at the short whistle.

Harshadeva Yasaratne of Ambalangoda BC and Shalika Gomes of DPMC were adjudged the Best Players in the Men's and Women's 'B' Division.

Stallions won the Men's 'C' Division title beating Field Force Youth 58-57 in a very class and exciting final after leading 36-25 at half time with Avin Jayawickreme (18), Ahmed Shafie (16) and Adam Flamer-Caldera (11) the chief scorers. The latter was adjudged the Best Players. For Field Force Youth, Nilanga Wickremeratne (14), Niroshan Sydney (10) and Vikum Suranga (10) did most of the scoring.

In the semi-finals, Stallions beat Kandy Cagers 71-65 after being led 31-35 at half time, while Field Force Youth beat DPMC 87-75 in a class tussle after leading 43-41 at the short whistle.