Dubai: The third edition of the UAE High School Basketball Championship, organised by 3SM and incorporating 18 schools from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, tipped off this week with the qualifying group-stage games.
Dubai English Speaking College (DESC), making their debut in this tournament, started off their campaign with a big win over Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS). Led by powerful centre Parth Aidasani, DESC took an early lead in the first few minutes. They were never threatened by a JESS team who where appearing in their third straight tournament, but were missing several key players that spearheaded them in previous seasons.
Aidasani broke an all-time scoring record for most points in a game by registering 32, while also grabbing 19 rebounds as he bullied his opponents with a powerful inside game coupled with efficient shooting.
Jess simply had no answer to Aidasani, who was chosen as player of the week as DESC ran out 51-39 winners.
In an earlier game, Dubai College (DC) continued their habitually strong performances in the tournament by winning their first game against last year’s semi-finalists, Emirates International School (EIS).
DC’s leading scorer was Amaan Khullar, who scored 12 points and six rebounds in a 39-28 win.
The High School Basketball Championship resumes its group stage games after the Eid Al Adha break next week.
