Kaya Tiwi team to watch at school’s Term One games
What you need to know:
- Can Kenya and East African girls’ basketball champions Kaya Tiwi repeat their achievements this year?
- The question will be answered at the 2017 Brookside National Secondary School Term One Games that get underway on Tuesday at State House Girls and Nairobi School in Nairobi.
- The Coastal region-based school defied all odds to win their first national title on their debut after beating two-time champions Buru Buru Girls 53-25 in the final at Friends School Kamusinga.
Can Kenya and East African girls’ basketball champions Kaya Tiwi repeat their achievements this year?
The question will be answered at the 2017 Brookside National Secondary School Term One Games that get underway on Tuesday at State House Girls and Nairobi School in Nairobi.
The Coastal region-based school defied all odds to win their first national title on their debut after beating two-time champions Buru Buru Girls 53-25 in the final at Friends School Kamusinga.
At the East African Games held in Eldoret, they earned a hard-fought 54-51 over Burundi’s Lycee du Lac Tanganyika to complete the double.
The achievements saw the team crowned girls’ school of the year at the SOYA Gala with tactician Philip Onyango winning the best coach award.
Kaya Tiwi qualified for this year’s showpiece after an emphatic 145-18 win over Mwakitawa Secondary from Taita Taveta County at the Coast Region Games. The results have left Onyango predicting another successful defence.
“It was a great achievement to win the two titles on our debut by we want to be better again this year and teams will need to work hard to stop us,” a confident Onyango said on Friday. Kaya Tiwi are in Pool B and will face three-time winners Tigoi Girls, Kirigara of Eastern Region and Central Region’s Loreto.
Onyango, who won eight national titles with Mombasa High and another four with Shimba Hills, is hoping to have the same success at Kaya Tiwi.
“The team is hungry for more success but we are not underestimating any of our opponents and therefore have to be at our best,” he added.
Forwards Beryl Aoko and Caroline Njeri will lead the team’s hunt for another title in Nairobi. Kaya Tiwi’s main threat will come from Buru Buru and Tigoi. But both teams are well aware they need something special to wrestle the title from Onyango’s charges.
Buru Buru coach Julius Otieno believes playing in their home region will work to their advantage
“They are coming to our backyard and the time is ripe for us to a third title and ensure the trophy returns to Nairobi,” he said. Kamukunji High was the last City-based school to win the national title back in 2003.
Buru Buru saw off arch-rivals Parklands Arya 60-46 in the Nairobi Region final to retain their crown. Buru Buru are in Pool B alongside Rift Valley’s St Brigids Kiminini, Nyanza Champions Nyamira and Senior Chied Ogle from Northern Eastern.
