Victory Playground edges out St Francis Boys in a nail-biting 72-71 win
Victory Playground clinched a 72-71 win against St. Francis Boys, while Titans secured a 66-47 victory against Rising Stars to move up from Level-II to Level-I in the Annual League Basketball Championship 2025-26 for the G M Sampath Kumar Trophy
Hyderabad: Victory Playground notched up a thrilling 72-71 win over St. Francis Boys, despite leading 35-28 at half-time, while Titans recorded a 66-47 victory against Rising Stars to earn promotion from Level-II to Level-I in the Annual League Basketball Championship 2025-26 for the G M Sampath Kumar Trophy, held at YMCA Secunderabad on Sunday.
In the first quarter, Kalyan of St. Francis was unstoppable as he scored 13 of the 15 points for his team. However, VPG was not far behind, with Vamshi using his height to good effect, scoring from the paint, and Mohan adding two three-pointers. As a result, VPG led 17-15 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, VPG tightened their defense, restricting St. Francis to just 13 points, while scoring 18 points through Vamshi and Mohan to comfortably lead 35-28 at half-time.
After the break, VPG continued their scoring spree, converting 21 points, with Vamshi hitting four three-pointers. However, St. Francis managed to score 15 points with Peter contributing to the offense, and the score stood at 56-43 in favor of VPG at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, St. Francis switched to full-court man-to-man marking, which restricted VPG’s scoring. The fast-paced game allowed St. Francis to reduce the deficit, scoring as many as five three-pointers to total 28 points. Despite being within striking distance, St. Francis couldn’t catch up after Kalyan fouled out, affecting their scoring. VPG held onto their nerves in the final minutes to win the match 72-71.
The scores:
Victory PG 72 (Vamshi 31, Mohan 12, Dhanush 11) bt St. Francis Boys 71 (Kalyan 23, Peter 21, Shoaib 10).
Titans 66 (Surya 22, Vignesh 12) bt Rising Stars, Sec’bad 47 (Yeshwanth 20, Lokesh 9).
KPHB 76 (Srikanth 25, Bharath 19, Sai 16, Steve 12) bt YMCA Hyd 60 (Krish 26, Vishwa 17, Sumit 13).
G9 67 (Sameer 18, Sravan 14, Chandu 11) bt BITS Had 53 (Pranav 17, Kommasani 15, Saket 14).
