Thrissur teams lift 31st Kerala State Youth Basketball Championship trophies in Irinjalakuda

Thrissur's boys and girls under-16 teams both celebrated on Monday as the city bagged double titles at the 31st Kerala State Youth Basketball Championship, held at the Christ Vidyanikethan indoor basketball court in Irinjalakuda from August 14-18, 2014. In two close finals, Thrissur's girls scraped past Kozhikode while the boys survived an intense finish against Ernakulum.

In the boys final, Thrissur held on to a double digit lead at halftime, but Ernakulum made a brave comeback in the second half behind stellar performances by Ebin Wilson (20) and Joshua J George (18). In the end, Thrissur held on to a close 70-64 victory. Gokul Babu (20) and Gineeb Benny (17) led the scorers in the winning side.

In the girls final, it was Thrissur who were left to fight back after going down by eight at halftime to Kozhikode, the tournament's reigning champions. But behind a team-high 18 points by Aleea Seby, Thrissur never gave up and bounced back to edge for a 65-61 victory as the final horn sounded. Anusha IP led the game with 19 points for Kozhikode in the loss.

Gineeb Benny and Nimmy George - both of Thrissur - bagged the Best Player award in the boys and girls divisions respectively, instituted in memory of PKS Naidu, the former Technical Committee Chairman of Kerala Basketball Association.

In earlier games, Niya Scaria scored 18 points as Kannur secured the girls' bronze medal with a 57-44 victory over Pathanamthitta. Bronze medal in the boys' competition went to Kottayam, who had no trouble blowing past Alapuzha for a 45-25 win. Jacob Jaimon led the winning side with 16.

Kozhikode to host Kerala's Youth Basketball Championship & Junior 3x3 Basketball Championship

The Kerala Basketball Association has announced that the city of Kozhikode is set to play host to two exciting basketball championships over the next week. The 30th Kerala State Youth Basketball Championship will be held from April 2-7, 2013 and the inaugural 1st Kerala State 3x3 Junior Basketball Championship will be held on April 6-7. Both competitions will be held in the boys' and girls' divisions.

Games will be held at the Silver Hill Indoor Stadium in Kozhikode. The championships are being held for the Sam Joseph, Shahil Muhammed, and Velandi Achu Master Memorial KBA tropies. A total of 14 teams each in both the boys' and girls' divisions have been chosen for the Kerala Youth Championship. The participating teams are:

Boys

Pool A: Kozhikode, Thrissur, Thiruvanathapuram, Pathanamthitta.
Pool B: Ernakulum, Kottayam, Kannur, Kasargod.
Pool C: Alapuzha, Wayanad, Malapuram.
Pool D: Kollum, Idukki, Palakkad.

Girls

Pool A: Kozhikode, Kollum, Ernakulam, Alapuzha.
Pool B: Kottayam, Thrissur, Thiruvanathapuram, Kannur.
Pool C: Pathanamthitta, Malapuram, Palakkad.
Pool D: Kasargod, Wayanad, Idukki.

The top three teams from Pools A and B and top teams from Pools C and D will qualify for the knockout round, which will begin on April 5.

Hosts Kozhikode are the reigning champions in both divisions. The teams to represent Kerala State at the National Youth Basketball Championship in Kolkata (West Bengal) from April 30 - May 7 will be determined on their performance at this tournament.

India is also holding its first ever national-level 3x3 basketball championships this year. The Junior (U18) National 3x3 Championship is set to be held in Ludhiana (Punjab) on April 18-19. Kerala's team for the tournament will be picked from the state-level performances at Kozhikode.

On April 6, Kozhikode basketball legends will be honoured at the event by PJ Sunny, the Chairman of the Kerala State Selection Committee.