KPA in fine start
Kenya Ports Authority beat Ubumwe of Rwanda at Zone 5 ball
Kenya Ports Authority women basketball team made their intention of reclaiming the FIBA Zone Five club championship title clear when they hammered a sturbbon Ubumwe from Rwanda 62-51 in game one in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on Saturday.
The Dockers who last won the trophy, currently held by KCCA of Uganda, four years ago, were in a class of their own in the first and second quarters when they outscored the Rwandese 13-06 and 19-11 to lead 3819 at the break in this category being played on a round robbin format.
Ubumwe who have among others Burundi and Berco Stars forward Ines Negeverwa and Rwanda Patriotic Army’s Sandra Kantore and Charlotte Umugwaneza in their line-up re- turned to the second session determined, matching the dockers score by score to reduce the gap.
The towering Negeverwa, arguably the tallest player at this championship was unstoppable inside the paint, controlling both the defensive and offensive rebounds to score a game high 15 points. Umugwaneza and Sandra scored 13 and nine points respectively for Ubumwe while Mercy Wanyama, the younger sister of Victor Wanyama the English Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, scored 13 points to lead KPA while Natalie Akinyi had 10 points.
“We played very well in the first half but ran out of steam in the second which is not good enough. We cannot afford to be a two-quarter team at this level,” KPA head coach Anthony Ojukwu said after the game.
His Ubumwe counterpart Jacques Bahige blamed the defeat to fatigue, saying his players had not rested enough after arriving in Dar es Salaam just a few hours before the game.
“KPA women are definitely a better team but I feel we could have given a could account of ourselves if we had had enough rest,” Bahige whose team arrived in Dar es Salaam at 3am on Saturday said.
Earlier Kenya champions Ulinzi Warriors faced a baptism of fire when they were humiliated 93-55 in the opening match by City Oil from Uganda.
The Kenya soldiers were a pale shadow of themselves particular in the second half when the Ugandans outscored them.
Ulinzi coach William Balozi while admitting there was a serious problem with the team promised to make amends in the remaining matches.
“Yes we have been outmanoeuvred but know where the problem is.”
Yvonne Akinyi of KPA challenges Maureen Andiala of USIU during their kenya Basketball League match at Upper Hill School in Nairobi on 10 September 2016.
