Academic giants Maseno High School and Alliance Boys renewed
rivalry in basketball at the Brookside Dairy Kenya Secondary Schools
Sports Association Term One games at Nakuru Boys High School on
Wednesday, with Maseno coming on top.
Maseno, coached
by their principal Paul Otula, stood out, beating Alliance 52-30. But
Maseno were given a major scare when Alliance raced to 12–9 first
quarter lead before Maseno bounced back to win the second quarter 22-6.
In another basketball match, defending champions Upper Hill from Metropolitan region thrashed Wajir from Northern 89-16.
Alliance
from Central region, restricted Maseno from Lakeside to a slim 8-6 win
in the third quarter before winning the fourth quarter 10-5 in a match
that attracted a huge crowd. Adule Amos was the toast for Maseno,
scoring a game-high 22 points while Kodhek Otieno led Alliance with 19
points.
“We missed last year’s finals and my boys want
to prove a point this year by knocking out our opponents as we start the
march to the final,” said coach Otula who is also the chairman of the
Kenya Basketball Federation.
ACCUSED MATCH OFFICIALS
Alliance
head coach Nicholas Ndege conceded defeat but pointed an accusing
finger at match officials “for making dubious calls which favoured my
opponents.”
“We respect Maseno but the match officials
watered down the game. They handled the game poorly and this disrupted
our game pattern,” said coach Ndege.
He said injuries to two of his key players (Kelvin Mutembei and Muray Odhiambo) weakened his defence.
In
another match, defending champions Upper Hill from Metropolitan
thrashed Wajir from Northern 89 16 in a match that saw Garang Deng of
Upper Hill emerged as the games top marksman with 14 points.
Wajir High School who were the first to open the scores but lack of experience and exposure was evident in their playing style.
Farah Aden led Wajir with eight points.
In
the girls’ category, East Africa and national champions Shimba Hills
from Coast region were in a class of their own when they sent Parklands
Arya from Metropolitan packing by beating the city girls 81-31.
Lilian
Atieno, who was the chief destroyer of Parklands wobbling defence,
emerged as the games highest scorer with 17 points while Parklands
replied through Maria Kombo who dunked in seven points.
“We
started badly against Loreto Girls from Aberdares but we have sealed
all the loopholes and we’re ready to defend the national and East
African titles,” said Shimba Hills captain Lilian Adera.
In
another girls’ basketball game, Loreto Girls High School from Limuru
who were representing Aberdares region hammered Kiriagara from Highlands
43-34. Joyce Ochieng scored 19 points for Loreto while Lydia Nyagweso
of Kiriagara had 12 points.