Basketball in Africa

TANZANIAN teams Jeshi Stars and ABC suffered disastrous start at the ongoing regional Zone 5 basketball championships after they lost their opening fixtures against Kenya's KPA and KCB respectively in Kampala, Uganda.
Jeshi Stars women side crashed to a 91-38 defeat to regional basketball champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) ladies on Tuesday afternoon at the Lugogo gymnasium in the Ugandan capital. KPA who won the title last year in Dar es Salaam Tanzania, dominated the entire game with Zainab Ramadhan emerging the highest scorer for the Kenyan team with 34 points while Hilda Indasi had 15 points.
The Kenyans came on top in all quarters 15-9, 23-10, 23-13, 30-6. KPA are tipped as favourites though they will face stiff competition from 2010 champions Eagle Wings who had a positive start with a 75-64 win over Uganda Christian University in their opening match on Monday evening.
In the evening, Kenya Commercial Bank basketball team continued Kenya's dominance over Tanzania with a 95- 59 win over ABC in the men's Pool B encounter at the same venue. The Kenyan team dominated in all quarters of the match 25-13, 18-16, 23-12 and 29-18 with KCB's Anthony Were emerging as the highest point's scorer with 16 points and Tobias Nyandima 15 points.
ABC's Kisoky Juma was the top scorer for the Tanzanian team as he bagged in 19 points. The losses leave Jeshi Stars and ABC in precarious positions and the pair could be out of the tournament if they failed to win their next assignments. Yesterday, Tanzania's Don Bosco women team was set to launch their campaign against Kenyan Eagle Wings, while Savio (men) were scheduled to play Kyambogo Warriors.
According to the fixture of the championship, Jeshi Stars and ABC were respectively clashing against Burundi's Berco Stars and hosts Mark Power. The winner of the competition will represent Zone 5 at the FIBA club championships later in the year. The Club Championship has attracted teams from hosts Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, including little known South Sudan.
Tanzania has entered Savio and ABC, who are competing in the men's side, while Jeshi Stars and Don Bosco feature in the women's category. Hosts Uganda have paraded DMark Power and Kyambogo Warriors on the men's side while UCU Lady Canons and KCCA Leopards feature in the women's category.
The men and women defending champions Uranani from Burundi and Kenya's Port Authority respectively are also contesting in the tournament ending next Sunday. Other teams in action include KCB and Eagles Wings from Kenya, while Rwanda and Burundi have entered Espior and Berco Stars respectively.