28 August 2008
KENYA : An all-Kenyan affair beckons in basketball
By Oscar Pilipili In Kigali
Kenya inched closer to sweeping the board in basketball after all its teams qualified for the semi-finals of the East African Secondary Schools Championships in Kigali, Rwanda.
Maseno and Mombasa, who are the boys and girls defending champions, qualified alongside Laiser and Tigoi following their successful campaign at the group stages.
Maseno defeated St Michael of Uganda 69-39 to top Pool ‘A’ in unbeaten record. They play hosts St Joseph in the semi-finals at Jean Bosco in Gatange today.
Laiser Hill secured the leadership of Pool ‘B’ with one match against Green Hill of Uganda in hand. They play Magongo of Tanzania in the second semi-final match today. Rivals Mombasa and Tigoi were yet to know their opponents in the semi-finals after the last pool matches, which were yet to be played by the time of going to press.
Tigoi captain Hillavi Ayodi predicted an all-Kenyan affair in both boys and girls finals tomorrow.
Ayodi said: "Kenyan teams have displayed high standards of the game since the first day of the Championships."
"I’m certain that Maseno will meet Laiser Hill and Tigoi play Mombasa in the finals."
Mombasa captain Everline Adhiambo echoed Ayodi’s sentiments, saying the chances of Kenyans meeting in all basketball finals were high.
"Kenya has strong teams and what I know is that basketball trophies will still belong to Kenya," said Adhiambo. Mombasa beat St Vincent of Rwanda 117-14 and hit Don Bosco of Burundi 95-45 in their first two matches.
On Tuesday, Tigoi hammered Providence of Rwanda 102-24 in their opening match, and not the other way round as we erroneously reported yesterday.
Tigoi went ahead to dismiss Yambio of Southern Sudan 110-20 to sail through to the semi-finals.
Kenya inched closer to sweeping the board in basketball after all its teams qualified for the semi-finals of the East African Secondary Schools Championships in Kigali, Rwanda.
Maseno and Mombasa, who are the boys and girls defending champions, qualified alongside Laiser and Tigoi following their successful campaign at the group stages.
Maseno defeated St Michael of Uganda 69-39 to top Pool ‘A’ in unbeaten record. They play hosts St Joseph in the semi-finals at Jean Bosco in Gatange today.
Laiser Hill secured the leadership of Pool ‘B’ with one match against Green Hill of Uganda in hand. They play Magongo of Tanzania in the second semi-final match today. Rivals Mombasa and Tigoi were yet to know their opponents in the semi-finals after the last pool matches, which were yet to be played by the time of going to press.
Tigoi captain Hillavi Ayodi predicted an all-Kenyan affair in both boys and girls finals tomorrow.
Ayodi said: "Kenyan teams have displayed high standards of the game since the first day of the Championships."
"I’m certain that Maseno will meet Laiser Hill and Tigoi play Mombasa in the finals."
Mombasa captain Everline Adhiambo echoed Ayodi’s sentiments, saying the chances of Kenyans meeting in all basketball finals were high.
"Kenya has strong teams and what I know is that basketball trophies will still belong to Kenya," said Adhiambo. Mombasa beat St Vincent of Rwanda 117-14 and hit Don Bosco of Burundi 95-45 in their first two matches.
On Tuesday, Tigoi hammered Providence of Rwanda 102-24 in their opening match, and not the other way round as we erroneously reported yesterday.
Tigoi went ahead to dismiss Yambio of Southern Sudan 110-20 to sail through to the semi-finals.
# posted by afrbk : 15:09
