KARACHI: Youthful POF Wah chalked up an emphatic 106-56 victory over Railways to finish runners-up in group B and sneak into semi-finals of the National Departmental Basketball Championship at the Arambagh floodlit court on Thursday.

Army and Wapda have already emerged group A and B champions. Winner of the Navy and Police encounter will complete the semi-final quartet.

The POF became the third team after Army and Wapda to cross the three-figure mark as one-sided matches continued in the event.

The POF had a brisk start and led 23-10 at first quarter. They won the second quarter 25-22 to enjoy 48-32 lead at half time.

The winners continued their domination winning the third quarter 28-17 and the fourth 30-7 to earn full points.

The trio of M. Usman, Ishrat Shah and M. Farooq were the architect of POF’s success. Usman played up to his true potential and amassed 25 points to lead the scorers list for the winning outfit.

Ishrat returned with 19 while Farooq contributed 18. M. Sajid and Safiullah also shone and scored 13 and 10 respectively.

The aging Railways should curse themselves for the defeat as their players lacked the proper finish and threw away a number of scoring opportunities.

Adnan was outstanding for them with 18 including two three-pointers. He was ably assisted by Allah Buksh 13 and Farhan 12.

Meanwhile, Wapda continued their unbeaten run when they brushed aside POF Wah 84-57 in the second match on Wednesday evening.

Wapda dominated the match right from the word go which is evident from their scores — 22-15, 24-13, 23-14, 15-15.

Aalejah hogged limelight with his brilliant scoring and top scored with 20. He was assisted by Muzammil and Abid Ali who shared 34 points amongst themselves.

Muzammil’s tally include three three-pointers so does Yawar who also delighted the spectators with three three-pointers. Falak Farid scored two three-pointers.

POF’s M. Usman’s outstanding 34 went in vain as he could not get enough support from other teammates.

Scores: POF Wah bt Railways 106-56

POF Wah: M. Usman 25, Ishrat Shah 19, M. Farooq 18, Sajid 13, Safiullah 10, Nadeem 9, Izharullah 6, Aman Bhatti 4, Farrukh 2.

Railways: Adnan 18, Allah Buksh 13, Farhan 12, Abdul Rehman 6, M. Nawaz 6, M. Ramzan 1.

Wapda bt POF Wah 84-57

Wapda: Aalejah 20, Muzammil 17, Abid Ali 17, Yawar Khan 9, Salman Butt 8, Falak Farid 8, Aamir 3, Sheraz Ali 2.

POA Wah: M. Usman 34, Ishrat Shah 6, Aman Bhatti 4, M. Farooq 4, M. Sajid 3, Falak Sher 3, Safiullah 3.

Friday’s fixtures: Playoff for 5th-6th position at 10am; first semi-final Army v POA Wah at 6pm; Wapda v winner of Navy-Police match at 7.15pm.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2017