Basketball in Africa

Maseno’s Dwayne Oluoch (right) gets past Upper Hill’s Ernest Ogutu during yesterday’s final match on April 18, 2015. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH |   NATION MEDIA GROUP

 By Francis Mureithi
More by this Author Half a basket steered high-flying Maseno to beat defending champions Upper Hill 46-45 in basketball final at the secondary schools national Term One games at Nakuru Boys High School on Saturday

Upper Hills’s Joshua Olang will rue this match for a long time to come as he squandered two free throws with three seconds remaining that would have seen them carry the day. With Maseno leading 46-45 in the last quarter, Olang was fouled as he was just about to dunk in the final point.

Taking the two free throws that would have sealed the fate for the Lake region representatives, a visibly tensed Olang saw the ball twice hit the ring and bounce back to play.

Jubillant Maseno fans then poured into court in celebration at the final whistle, their towering coach and principal Paul Otula bending on his knees to acknowledge hugs from fans.

“This was indeed an uphill task for us and to have climbed over Upper Hill, this will go down as the toughest assignment I have ever handled as Maseno coach,” said Otula.

Upper Hill looked set to continue their dominance into the second year running as they grabbed the first quarter at 13-6.

However, in the second quarter things thicken for the Metropolitan representatives as Maseno flourished holding their opponents at 8-8.

On resumption Maseno played a composed game as they carried the third quarter at 23-15. The fourth quarter saw the match live up to its well predicted mouthwatering clash as the lead kept changing before Maseno carried the day.

Maseno’s Dwayne Olouch had a game high of 14 points assisted by Amos Aduke with eight points. Upper Hill’s Ater Isaih scored 14 points assisted by John Ajak (12).

In a third play off Kapenguria from Mau region beat St Georges from Coast 55-43.

In the girls finals, Shimba Hills retained the title when they buried St Brigids (Nzoia region) 74-36. In the play offs, St Marys Mabera from Lake region beat Parklands Arya (Metropolitan) 37-34.