Colegio Granadino beat Colegio Nueva Granada 35-20 to gain victory in the ACCAS Girls Basketball Tournament in the TCS Coliseum on April 30.

Colegio Granadino’s team came from Manizales and finished first in both rounds with a total of 167 points scored. Followed by Colegio Nueva Granada from Bogota with 166 points scored, TCS Girls Basketball settled in 3rd place with 150 points scored, and lastly, Colegio Bolivar finished last overall.

“It’s a really strong competition because only four teams participated and all of us have great teams, who have prepared a lot. The competition was tough,” Isabella Giraldo, Granadino Team Captain, said.

The competition was organized in 2 rounds with each team playing 6 games before the top four teams met. Granadino won all six of their games while CNG lost three, including one against Columbus and twice against Granadino. 

“This competition is the one that, as coaches and players, we are always waiting for and preparing for during the whole year, and the one that we always aim to win,” David Lopez, TCS Coach, said. 

CNG advanced to the finals on point differential after finishing with the same record as TCS. In their second match, Columbus beat CNG 28-27 but failed to advance to the finals. 

“I feel like we have a really strong team. We were able to get to finals and I am extremely proud of our work and all the sacrifice we have put through. And yeah, I think that we’re just going up, we’re just getting better every day,” Mariana Garcia, CNG Team Captain, said. 

Granadino took victory back to Manizales for the 6th year consecutive in Girls Basketball. Senior Giraldo has been attending ACCAS tournaments for over 7 years, since middle school, she’s been part of High School ACCAS.

“I was kind of nervous. It was my first final against them. I’ve always played finals against other teams, but I think we were prepared to win and we were prepared to give our best,” Giraldo said.

TCS faced a lot of difficulties with Senior Francesca Raseni ineligible, and Ambar Alvarez, Grade 10, injured days before the tournament. They also lost Senior captain Manuela Gomez who sprained her wrist. The players were replaced with three girls from 7th and 8th grade.

“Preparation was really long and to see I had an injury that didn’t let me finish made me feel powerless. The team really needed the players who were missing, they were an essential part, but still, we did our best effort and became more united as a team,” Gomez said. 

The Most Valuable Player from each team were Isabella Giraldo from Granadino with 80 points, Mariana García from CNG with 59 points, Manuela Gomez from TCS with 50 points, and Manuela Cardona from Bolivar with 30 points. 

Other teams are extremely competitive and extremely good. They all have a great practice, great players, and great values, and it’s a great experience to be able to compete, It’s an honor to compete in Binationals,” Garcia said.