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.

Ernakulum (Men) & Thiruvanathapuram (Women) win 58th Kerala State Basketball Championship

After five days of exciting basketball action, the finale of the 58th Kerala State Basketball Championship came down to a few familiar faces. On December 8, the Sree Kerala Varma College in Thrissur hosted a repeat of both the Men's and Women's Finals from last year. In the Men's competition, Ernakulum repeated their triumph from last season by thumping Thiruvanathapuram en route to a 89-48 win. Thiruvanathapuram were able to save some face in the Women's division though, when last year's losing side defeated reigning champs Palakkad 71-54 to snatch the gold medals.

Teams from 14 districts from Kerala battled for the honors in the Men's section and 12 teams in the Women's division at the state championship. The tournament was organized by the Kerala Basketball Association under the auspices of the Thrissur District Basketball Association.

Thiruvanathapuram's Women's team - led by India internationals Jenna PS and Stephy Nixon - showed no trouble getting some revenge on last year's loss for their big victory. Jeena was fearless throughout, leading the way with 37 points. Neenumol PS and Liji Mol of Palakkad added 18 and 17 points respectively in the loss.

An onslaught of offense led by Abhilash (27) and Monish Wilson (20) led Ernakulum to a repeat title victory over Thiruvanathapuram, who were paced by Vijobi Vakkachan's 19 points.

Earlier in the day, Kannur's Women side secured third place in the championship with a close win over Kottayam, 68-63. Premi P. Lal had an impressive 32 point outing for the victors, while Kottayam were led by young star Poojamol KS (19) and Minnu Marium (17). In the high-scoring men's third-place game, Pathanamthitta - led by Nicewin M (28) and Edwin Irvin (19) - outlasted Kottayam to score a 86-78 win. Akhil Mathew Sunny had a strong 30 point outing for the losing side.

The best performers of the championship will comprise of the state team to represent Kerala at India's Senior National Basketball Championship, slated for February 2014.

Ernakulum (Men) & Palakkad (Women) win 57th Kerala State Basketball Championship

Riding on with their newly recruited players from Kerala Police, the Palakkad Women's team took their first ever Gold at the 57th Kerala State Senior Basketball Championship at the Govt Higher Secondary school at Manjeri. Ernakulum Men dethroned defending Champion Thiruvanthapuram to take the Men's title.

In an exciting final Palakkad took their maiden title as they beat Thiruvanthapuram, who were represented by members of Kerala State Electricity Board, 57-51. Neenumol PS and Surya PR top scored with 18 points each for the winners.

In the Men's battle, Ernakulum - comprised of players from Central Excise, Kochi - had to fight hard to beat Thiruvanthapuram 66-54. Ernakulum had a close 33-29 lead at half time. Monish Wilson came up with 17 points for the winners. Eudric Pereira had 15 points for Thiruvanthapuram.

In the Women's 3/4th place game, Kannur Defeated Thrissur 66-40 with their prolific scorer Jeena PS scoring 35 points. Pathanamthitta Men took the third spot after defeating Kollam 69-48.

The Kerala Basketball Association felicitated the members and coaches of Kerala teams which won the titles in the National school Games and National Youth Championship.

Awards were also distributed to individual players from the State rewarding their performances through the year. Eudrick Pereira and Neenumol PS won the P S Viswappan Memorial Gold Medal for the best player. Basil Phillip and Poojamol KS were given the Parmeswaran Pillai Memorial Cash award.