Wismilak, Mahaputri reach Kobanita final

Wismilak, Mahaputri reach Kobanita final

JAKARTA (JP): Defending champion Wismilak CLS of Surabaya was
only one step away from its ambition to retain its title after
beating another Surabaya-based team Sahabat 64-35 in the
semifinals of the Rexona women's Kobatama national basketball
league at the Soemantri Brodjonegoro indoor court on Friday.

In the final match on Saturday, Wismilak CLS will meet
Mahaputri Aspac, which defeated Bandung-based Rajawali 57-43 in
the second semifinal match.

CLS did not give a chance to Sahabat and moved ahead 17-8 at
the end of the first quarter. Sahabat found it difficult to break
through CLS' solid defense, and relied mostly on three pointers.

Mauludiah and Yenny contributed three points each from seven
free throws and Lindawati scored once for Sahabat.

In the second quarter, Sahabat managed to rebound but was
still less productive in scoring.

Endang Suharsari of Sahabat earned seven chances to score but
failed to do so. Mauludiah and Linda managed to contribute one
out of two chances while Law Siau Fei only scored one of four
chances.

Vivi Puspasari of CLS managed to score 10 points in this
quarter to end with a 32-20 victory.

Sahabat players could no longer demonstrate their skills in
the third quarter, despite tightening their defense. They were
successful in rebounding but unfortunately they could not finish
it well. The third quarter ended at 50-27.

Left behind in a wide margin, Sahabat seemed to lose their
fighting spirit. CLS' senior player Sherly Humardani did the lay
up to end the fourth quarter 64-35.

Sahabat's coach Moch. Arifin admitted that his players were
still too young and unprepared to challenge the defending
champion.

"Moreover, we don't have enough players with proper height. We
tried to strengthen our defense and help each other, but some of
the players lost concentration and CLS managed to seize the
opportunity several times."

"We are really outclassed by CLS. They are more experienced,
more senior and they can anticipate our defense and offense," he
said.

Arifin said, however, that his team would try its luck on
Saturday to end the season in the third position.

"It's OK if we lost today, but we will focus on Saturday's
match. We have tried to avoid playing hard to prevent injury," he
said.

CLS' coach Wellyanto Pribadi said his team would be without
ace player Dwi Ratna Herawati, who injured her leg during
Friday's match.

"We have added one extra player, Sherly Humardani but we lost
one. We are unsure if Dwi can perform Saturday," he said. (ivy)