Rutuja shines with 28 points in Palghar Tigers easy win

Mumbai: Rutuja Nakawade was at her shooting best scoring 28 points in leading Palghar Tigers to a 69-57 win against Mumbai Warriors in a junior girl’s Group-A match of the Basketball Network Academy (BNA) organised Junior Basketball League 2022 for the ageasFEDERAL Trophy, and played at the Dr. Muthukumar Basketball Court, Indian Gymkhana, on Tuesday.  The tournament is being conducted under the auspices of the Maharashtra State Basketball Association & in association with Indian Gymkhana. The Palghar girls grabbed a 39-24 half-time lead.

However, the Palghar Tigers boys’ team were not as fortunate and suffered a 53-68 defeat against Aurangabad Eagles in a junior boys Group-B match. Aurangabad Eagles, who raced to a commanding 39-15 lead at the break scored through Badal Singh Rawat 23 points, Yash Mathapati 13 points, and Chirag Sharma 9 points, while Palghar Tigers shots baskets with Yagna S. scoring 16 points and Pawankumar Patel and Milan Kumar chipping in with 9 and 8 points respectively.

In a junior girls’ Group-B match, Ratnagiri Vipers defeated Aurangabad Eagles 45-39 after gaining a slender 26-24 half-time lead. Harshali Jadhav 15 points and Afza Khan 14 points scored for Ratnagiri while Kashish M. 15 points led the Aurangabad fight.

Results: Girls – Group-A: Palghar Tigers (Rutuja Nakawade 28, Samaira Bhalla 13) beat Mumbai Warriors (Gajalakshmi Shaktivel 14) - 69-57 (half-time: 39-24).

Group-B: Ratnagiri Vipers (Harshali Jadhav 15 points, Afza Khan 14) beat Aurangabad Eagles (Kashish M. 15) – 45-39 (half-time: 26-24).

Boys – Group-B: Aurangabad Eagles (Badal Singh Rawat 23, Yash Mathapati 13, Chirag Sharma 9) beat Palghar Tigers (Yagna S. 16, Pawankumar Patel 9, Milan Kumar 8) - 68-53 (half-time: 39-15).