Buru Buru stun Kaya Tiwi as Laiser retain boys title

After a 18-year wait, Buru Buru Girls were on Saturday finally crowned basketball champions after dethroning Kaya Tiwi 43-41 while Laiser Hill Academy successfully defended their boys’ title as the Brookside National Secondary Schools Term One Games concluded at Shimo La Tewa School and Shanzu Teachers College, Mombasa.

Buru Buru’s win brought an end to Kaya Tiwi's three years’ dominance after holding on to the trophy since their first triumph in 2016. It is Buru Buru's third crown after previous success in 1995 and 2000.

This happened as Kakamega High School made more history by winning the rugby 15s title for an eighth time, beating newcomers Dagoretti High School 18-11 in a tough match at the Shimo La Tewa School grounds.

In the basketball final, Buru Buru were down 11-13 in the first quarter, but outscored Kaya Tiwi 16-11 in the second quarter for a 27-24 half time score, in this game that saw the impressive Kiyobe Chantal and Maureen Nyanganyi play their hearts outs for the Nairobi Region champions.

Kiyobe was particularly unstoppable from beyond the arc nailing four three- pointers that changed the course of the game, with Nyanganyi contributing another two three-point shots against the run of play.

The second half was evenly contested with Buru taking a slim 9-8 lead in the third, while Kaya Tiwi led the fourth score 9-7.

Chantal top-scored with 17 points, as Nyanganyi contributed seven points for the victors. Kaya Tiwi had Dayana Moraa top scoring with 13 points, while Lilian Ochola made 11 points.

“It was indeed a tough match because on paper I thought they were better than us, but we took advantage of their lack of speed to run them down," an elated Buru Buru coach Julius Otieno said after the match.

His Kaya Tiwi counterpart, Maryanne Obonyo said the girls had a very bad day in office missing very crucial points, but promised to make amends before the East Africa secondary school games in Arusha, Tanzania.

The boys' finals was equally explosive with defending champions Laiser Hill Academy, who beat Dagoretti High 69-52 in the final, going straight into the offensive taking a comfortable 34-22 half time lead.

Mariel Malek, Abdul Kihagu and David Mayen, starring for Lasier Hill, gave their opponents, who had stylish Moses Alier, Churchill Odhiambo and Samande Agava, very little space to operate from as they took the third quarter 15-8, putting the game beyond the reach of Dagoretti, whose 20-22 score in the fourth quarter proved a consolation.

It is Laiser's eighth crown in total and third in a row.

Malek top-scored for Laiser Hill with 24 points and David Mayen had eight, while Robert Wanjala had 23 points for Dagoretti High.

Agoro Sare and Tigoi Girls finished third in the boys' and girls' events after winning their playoff matches.