Olympic girls emerged the winners of the girls category after edging out St. John 25-03 in the final of the first Jr.NBA and Safaricom Basketball Tournament hekd at Sabis International school,Nairobi.
The boys title was lifted by St. John’s who narrowly saw off Olympic 17-14.
The first tournament had an impressive turn out of 24 schools with more than 500 junior players.
In the girls’ semi finals, Olympic beat Daima 26-4 in a one-sided match on the outdoor courts. St.John was made to sweat before edging out Chrisco 12-10 in an entertaining encounter.
In the boys’ semi finals, Olympic were in a class of their own as they brushed aside Harambee 15-6 in the first semi final. St.John on the other hand pushed hard before edging out favorites Makini School 16-14.
Daima took the third position in the girls’ tournament after edging out Chrisco 13-5. In the boys’ competition, Makini hammered Harambee 23-10 to take the bronze medal.
“It feels great. We have really worked hard and winning a tournament like this is a just reward for all the efforts we put in. Preparations were vigorous because we have been training since schools closed in November (2024). When others went on holiday, we remained behind in Nairobi to train. The rewards are showing right now,” said Ezra Alenga who coaches the Olympic Junior Secondary teams.
“We have been working over this for years. We prepared over time, it feels good because it was a nice competition and very tough by the way. My boys were disadvantaged because of their size, and our opponents in the final were very physical. But we were tactical and shot from the three points line that they did not guard, and that is how we scored baskets,” elaborated coach Brian of St. John Junior Secondary School in Korogocho.
40 coaches took players through paces,sharing with them the vital skills needed for them as they advance in the sport.
From the tournament a number of players will be scouted and put in an elite camp that will encompass 100 players in April in Mombasa.
“We had all the 500 players playing games and doing work outs. 100 were identified for more workouts on day two before the semifinals and finals.
15 girls were selected for the “for her” camp by the Basketball Africa League camp in Nairobi at the end of February during the BAL weekend in Kenya,” explained Mike Finley, Kenya Country Lead for NBA Africa.
