13 October 2011
TANZANIA : Zone 5 - Jeshi Stars march to another win
Dar es Salaam. Jeshi Stars are simply unstoppable. They marched on to the third win in a row in the ongoing Zone V Basketball Championship at the National Indoor Stadium yesterday.The army team, gunning to restore its pride in the regional championship, edged out KCC Leopards of Uganda 64-60 in a closely fought encounter.Jeshi Stars began their title campaign with a resounding 71-49 win over Government House Agency of Ethiopia before labouring past Burundi’s Berko 59-53 on Monday.
Nipael Kessy displayed her scoring ability to finish with 17 points, Lucy Augustino had 16 points as hard-fighting centre notched 12 for the victors.Flaviana Okech of KCC Leopards finished as the team’s highest scorer with 19 points while her teammate Marth Joibi scored seven points.
It was hardly a plain sailing for the winners, who were forced to deploy all experience at their disposal to silence the Ugandans.Jeshi Stars relying on their attacking firepower of Malaki, Penina Igwe, Kessy and Lucy made a bright start to the game and managed to take a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
With the home crowd strongly backing Jeshi Stars, they became the better side in the second quarter and made the most of their offensive game to widen their lead to 30-21.
Hoping that the Ugandans were already outdone, KCC Leopards managed to turn the tables in the third quarter, scoring 23-15, leaving the home fans worried about Jeshi Stars’ chances of posting the third straight win.
Though looking tired, Jeshi Stars returned into the decisive quarter with a clear intention of extending their winning run with the likes of Igwe, Malaki and Kessy troubling the Ugandans constantly.
Nipael Kessy displayed her scoring ability to finish with 17 points, Lucy Augustino had 16 points as hard-fighting centre notched 12 for the victors.Flaviana Okech of KCC Leopards finished as the team’s highest scorer with 19 points while her teammate Marth Joibi scored seven points.
It was hardly a plain sailing for the winners, who were forced to deploy all experience at their disposal to silence the Ugandans.Jeshi Stars relying on their attacking firepower of Malaki, Penina Igwe, Kessy and Lucy made a bright start to the game and managed to take a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
With the home crowd strongly backing Jeshi Stars, they became the better side in the second quarter and made the most of their offensive game to widen their lead to 30-21.
Hoping that the Ugandans were already outdone, KCC Leopards managed to turn the tables in the third quarter, scoring 23-15, leaving the home fans worried about Jeshi Stars’ chances of posting the third straight win.
Though looking tired, Jeshi Stars returned into the decisive quarter with a clear intention of extending their winning run with the likes of Igwe, Malaki and Kessy troubling the Ugandans constantly.
Their efforts paid dividends after winning the fourth quarter 19-16, thus edging out the pre-match favourites by four points.The victors will swing back into action tomorrow when they come head-to-head with KPR of Kenya at the same venue.The day will also see Savio, who started the tournament on a wrong footing, clash with APR of Rwanda.
In yesterday’s other duel, Berko Stars of Burundi registered their first win of the tournament after beating Kenya’s KPA 41-40 at the National Indoor Stadium.The Kenyan team, fresh from a 55-53 defeat at the hands of KCC Leopards, complicated their title mission after falling to a less-fancied Burundi outfit.
KPA were the dominant side right from the outset, but to the surprise of a handful of their fans, they took a slim 18-17 lead until the breather.From the third quarter, the Kenyans were running out of steam and the Burundians capitalised on it to seal a wafer-thin victory.
On Tuesday, the Tanzania men’s sides continued with a poor run of form when Savio and Vijana lost their games.Unlike their female counterparts, Jeshi Stars, who have maintained their impressive run in the championship, the going has proved tough for the local men teams.Savio succumbed to a 34-49 defeat at the hands of Rwanda’s KCB in an entertaining game at Don Bosco courts.
Likewise, one of the Tanzanian leading sides Vijana could not demonstrate their prowess against APR and allowed their opponents dictate the terms and eventually went down to a 83-53 defeat. Vijana looked sharp in the first quarter but got lost as the game wore on and were easily ran ragged by the Rwandese outfit.
# posted by afrbk : 14:44
