14 February 2008

KENYA : Jaffery's Beat St. Mary's for Second Win

By Sammy Kitula
Nairobi

Jaffery's Academy beat St Mary's School 65-27 to claim their second straight win in the ongoing Nairobi Secondary Schools Association boys' basketball league.

The first two minutes of the game saw the scoreboard go blank as both teams as the teams sized up each other. Collins Maiteri, who was the top scorer for Jaffery's Academy with 22, put the first points on the board with a drive and a successful lay up and all the mind games stopped and the contest started in earnest.

Abraham Kimeu replied for St Mary's with a quick drive that caught the opponents napping.

"We had started the match on the wrong footing, letting our opponents dictate the pace. But after the second quarter, we found our rhythm and controlled the proceedings," said Jaffery's coach, Gabriel Ingotsi.

With a basket each, the game turned into a total war as the pace picked up and the ball was in both courts within 20 seconds as each team sought to light up their part of the scoreboard. When the first quarter ended, Jaffery's Academy, last year's finalists in this league, were led 9-8.

"The first quarter was just mixed up and we needed to correct our mistakes very fast. We committed numerous turnovers, that were just unnecessary," said Jaffery's captain, Collins Maiteri. And true to their word, they changed strategy as they came down hard on their opponents in the second quarter relentlessly sinking baskets from outside the three-point arc and from brilliant lay ups, all coming from culminating from well calculated passes and drives.
A combination of Maiteri, Lenus Mbega and Billy Kamau ensured that Jaffery's won most of their balls in their court, made successful drives into the opponent's court and provided entertaining dummies to lead 21-10 at half time

Such was Jaffery's domination that they outscored St Mary's 20-3 in the third quarter. St Mary's fought back bravely in the final quarter sinking baskets and defending well. Abraham Kimeu was the top scorer with 12.

The strategy worked, but it was a matter of too little too late as they lost the quarter 24-14. St Mary's coach, David Waigwa, attributed his team's loss to the fact that it took a while before the players could get used to the court. "It took my players a while before they got used to the rims. Playing away from home isn't an easy task, but we promise them a hard time in the return match next week," he said.

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