NAGPUR: Dharampeth Krida Mandal (DKM) boys and girls are district champions after a gap of five years, and also ended their seven-year wait of winning the twin titles in the U-16 age group on Monday.
In the Youth (U-16) district basketball championship which concluded at the NBYS courts, Bajaj Nagar, DKM hoopsters played their hearts out to take home both the boys and girls titles.
In the 2016 Youth championship too both DKM teams had emerged champions, and repeated the act two years later by winning both titles in the Junior (U-18) age group in 2018.
On the concluding day of the six-day selection tournament organized by the Nagpur District Basketball Association (NDBA), the DKM girls' outfit rallied splendidly to stun defending champions Shivaji Nagar Gymkhana (SNG) in a lop-sided summit clash by as many as 15 points (69-54) and regain the district trophy after a year.
In contrast, the boys title clash between DKM and Nagpur Amateur Sports Association (NASA) went down to the wire. After taking a handy 10-point lead, DKM cagers came in foul trouble in the last quarter and NASA managed to bring the scores close by converting seven free throws. Despite being in foul trouble, DKM kept their cool and recorded a two-point (68-66) triumph.
For the winners, Prathamesh Diwedi (24), Neil Dhargawe (14) and Shresth Chandak (12) did the bulk of the scoring. For NASA, Shreyash Bhosale (26) and Naman Todkar (12) played well.
Earlier in the girls' title clash, DKM took time to settle into their groove and dominated the 40-minute final against arch-rivals SNG. Pint-sized but fastest shooting guard of the city Meehira Dhote continued her brilliant form with yet another game-high score of 30 points for DKM. She was well supported by Nandini Chandak (21) and Swanandi Nagmote (12). For SNG, Riddhi Borkar (20) and Samruddhi Kotriwar (12) played well.
RESULT (FINALS)
GIRLS: DKM (Meehira Dhote 30, Nandini Chandak 21, Swanandi Nagmote 12) bt SNG (Riddhi Borkar 20, Samruddhi Kotriwar 12) 69-54 (11-21, 16-7, 21-13, 21-13)
BOYS: DKM (Prathamesh Diwedi 24, Neil Dhargawe 14, Shresth Chandak 12) bt NASA (Shreyash Bhosale 26, Naman Todkar 12) 68-66 (15-17, 21-15, 18-10, 14-22)
