Basketball in Africa

*HotShots face Mont Fleuri in women’s game

Defending men’s Curtain-raiser champions PLS Hawks will contest the men’s final once again this year and will face the tough challenge of Baya this afternoon.

Coach Michel Malbrook’s Baya were the first to book their place in the final when they defeated Victoria Shooters on Tuesday.
A 25-point contribution from Timmy Adam helped Baya ease to a 104-45 victory over the newly formed Shooters.
Baya made the difference in the fourth quarter when they capitalised on their opponents’ fitness to score a massive 44 points.
Benjamin Henriette led the scores for Shooters win 14 points.
As for PLS Hawks, they faced a tough task as they came up against an MBU Rockers side who had eliminated Premium Cobras on their way to the semifinal. In the match played on Thursday, it was a close high-scoring affair and Hawks eventually managed to squeeze through with a 94-89 victory.
It was Hawks’ Rodney Lozé and Rockers captain Nigel Sinon who led the game in scoring with 28 points apiece. Wilby Domingue added a further 23 for the Hawks as they now face the task of defeating Baya to claim their first trophy of the season.
The Hawks are without last season’s player of the year Alao Solomon for this season, and they are already proving that they were not a one-man team as they continue to show why they claimed all titles on offer last season.
Baya meanwhile, will be hoping to stop the defending league champions as they aim to get their season off to the best possible start with a challenge for the title surely expected from them. It should prove to be a very exciting affair which basketball fans must not miss this afternoon.

As for the women’s final, the battle will be between last year’s SBF Cup winners Mont Fleuri and HotShots.
Mont Fleuri booked their final berth with a 49-44 victory over defending league champions Anse Etoile Stars.

Meanwhile, HotShots had a much easier passage into the final as they claimed an 88-17 victory over BV Sonics after earlier defeating the newly formed Bel Air side in the quarterfinal.
It should be another entertaining final during which both teams will be looking to assert themselves early on to show that they will be the main challengers for the league title this season after the many changes that have occurred in women’s basketball this year.

The finals will be played today at the Victoria Gymnasium, with the ladies’ match starting at 3pm, followed by the men’s at 4.30pm.

Last year, PLS Hawks ran out lucky 96-91 against MBU Rockers to retain the men’s title, while Anse Etoile Stars dethroned Mont Fleuri with a 53-45 win in the women’s game.