Maseno floor Alliance in basketball

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.