Dubai: St Mary's Catholic School (STM) held their nerves for a 57-47 win over International School of Choueifat, Dubai to clinch the inaugural High School Basketball Championship last Friday.
The game drew a large crowd with raucous support for both teams, which may have contributed to the tense start from the players.
The game started at a frantic pace but both sides uncharacteristically kept missing easy chances. It took over two minutes for STM to open the scoring while both teams continued to exhibit nerviness by continuously committing unnecessary fouls.
The fouling dictated most of the first quarter with STM scoring some of their free-throws to take an 11-6 lead.
Both teams offered a much-improved performance in the second quarter as they settled and took in the atmosphere. ISC finally took a deserved lead midway through the quarter but it was shortlived as with every ISC basket made, STM hit back with one of their own that produced an exciting stretch where the game had five lead changes on consecutive possessions.
Sloppy defending
But as the half came to an end, STM took advantage of some sloppy defending and came out on top 25-19.
Not wanting to give up any easy points, both teams set out to foul in the third quarter that resulted in players from both sides being fouled out of the game.
This played in STM's favour though, as their big men just overpowered their opponents inside drawing fouls and making plays.
It was a close, hard-fought game that simply slipped away from ISC in the final minutes, as STM were able to hold on for a 57-47 win.
