Thiruvananthapuram retain women’s senior state basketball title

Thiruvananthapuram retained the women's title of Senior State Basketball Championship with a convincing win over Kottayam in the final at the Jawahar Square Stadium in Kunnamkulam on Sunday.

The star-studded Thiruvananthapuram side won 95-61, with Sreekala R top-scoring with 34 points and Kavitha Jose posting 23.

Thiruvananthapuram, made up of the strong KSEB squad, led 26-21 at the end of the first quarter and stretched their lead to 50-42 at half-time. The favourites went all-out in the second half of the final, amassing 45 points and letting in just 19.

Alappuzha secured bronze in the women's category, with a 54-49 win over Thrissur. Jesley P S top-scored with 25 points for Alappuzha. In the men's bronze-medal game, Thrissur crushed Kottayam 102-77, with Sahal Muhammed and Irfan Muhammed adding 36 and 26 points respectively.

Results
Women's final: Thiruvanathapuram 95 (Sreekala R 34, Kavitha Jose 23, Susan Florentina 14, Aneesha Cleetus 13) bt Kottayam 61 (Akshaya Philip 18, Reema Ronald 18, Jeevamol 12)

Women's bronze-medal game: Alappuzha 54 (Jesley PS 25, Swapna Marium Jiju 13) bt Thrissur 49 (Aleena Antony 15)