Two Lagos Schools, Six Others Qualify
Teams from Lagos State have qualified for the Conference Finals of the 20th Nestle Milo Secondary Schools Basketball Championship.
Lagos State representatives, International School, Lagos (Boys) and Wesley Girls Secondary School, Yaba, (Girls) emerged winners at the Conference Finals and have both qualified for the national finals slated for May 3-10, at the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.
In the conference finals decided on Tuesday, Lagos defeated Oyo 36-35 points in the girls category, while in the boys final, Lagos beat Ogun with 77-41 points.
On their road to the final, International School played their first match in the Conference Finals against Team Ondo who they defeated 37-36 points. They also won their second game against Team Ogun 47-33 points and their third match against Kogi was won by 38-23 points.
In the semi final of the finals, International School Lagos beat Ekiti by 54-20 points to set up their final match against Oyo which they won.
Meanwhile, in the girls category, Wesley Girls Secondary School defeated Ondo 60-5 points in their first match of the Conference Finals. Their semi final match against Ogun was won by 30-26 points.
The Executive Chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission, Dr Kweku Tandoh described the performance of both International School and Wesley Girls as testimony to the developmental programme of the state government on schools sports. He said the two schools are worthy representatives of Lagos State in a competition designed for all secondary schools in Nigeria.
He charged the two finalists not to rest on their laurels until they win the coveted trophies in the National Finals, adding that the Lagos State Sports Commission is solidly behind them.
The Director General of the Commission, Fatai Babatunde BankAnthony, commended the two schools for fighting their ways to the national finals. He noted that the results they recorded in the conference finals showed they were gallant warriors who deserved praises.
He charged them, as Team Lagos, to be the champions of the 20th Nestle Milo Secondary Schools Basketball Championship.
Other qualifiers include, Belary School, Yenagoa, and St. Jude’s Girls Secondary School, Amarata, both in Bayelsa State; Government Secondary School, Karu, FCT Abuja; Gen. Murtala Mohammed College, Yola, Adamawa State; Father O’ Connel Science College, Minna, Niger State; Government Secondary School, Gboko, Benue State;
Four other schools will join after the completion of the draws for the best losers, according to information available from the National Collegiate Sports Foundation (NCSF). The National Finals will be held at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium in Lagos, between 3rd and 10th of May 2018.
The championship commenced earlier in the year with state preliminary games after the NSSF registered over 9, 000 schools across the 36 States and FCT Abuja. Out of these over 9,000 schools,74 schools comprising of both boys and girls teams qualified for the regional conferences which held in Benin, Abuja, Ilorin, and Ibadan, over a period of four weeks.
“A good number of players in the Premier Basketball League in Nigeria have participated in the MILO Basketball Championship at one point or the other while some of our champions are also currently playing in other international Premier Basketball Leagues in USA, Europe, and other places,” Lanre Balogun, NCSF’s Executive Secretary informed.