Basketball in Africa

By Oscar Pilipili

Champions St George’s opened the season on a positive note by winning two matches during the Nairobi secondary schools girls’ basketball league.

St George’s defeated Kianda 44-7 in a one-sided preliminary match at Kenya Railway Club Nairobi on Saturday.
Beryl Aloo and Drusillah Njoki sunk four baskets each with Tanya Ogwel, Janet Akinyi and Tracy Mwangi contributing four points each for the champions.
Jeanette Oyunga, Kathleen Simiyu and Cindy Orata replied for Kianda with two points each.
After easily winning the first match, St George’s were forced to work extra hard before pipping Hospital Hill 21-20 in an action-packed match. Ogwel starred for St George’s, scoring eight points with Georgina Odhiambo managing seven for Hospital Hill.
The match was temporarily stopped in the final quarter after St George’s coach, Juma Kent, ordered his players out of the court to protest what he termed as bias officiating. "The umpires are unfair and they should let the best team win," he said.
St George’s captain, Garnet Iyadi, expressed satisfaction over their double victory saying it was a good beginning in their quest to retain the provincial title.
"The victories have laid a strong foundation for our campaign in the league," Iyadi said. "We hope to build on that performance in our next matches," she said.
Hospital Hill captain, Mitchelle Synaida conceded defeat saying St George’s were the bettr team.
"There must be a winner and a loser in every competition, but the umpires weren’t fair either," said Synaida.
The girls’ championship is featuring 16 schools divided into four pools of the same number of teams.

The competition continues next weekend.