USIU Flames and Team Twende were crowned the winners of the National finals of the Red Bull Half Court tournament that was played at the USIU grounds.
The competition was organized in partnership between Kenya Basketball Federation and Red Bull Kenya and was aimed at identifying and improving the next talent of basketball in Kenya.
The tournament brought together qualified teams from Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret, who were fighting for a slot to represent the country in the World finals that will be held in New York, US.
This will be the third time Kenya will be represented in the world finals, this is after making a debut in 2022 and a second consecutive appearance in 2023.
In matches played earlier in the day, teams put up their best against their opponents to try and secure slots to the finals of the competition.
In the lady’s category, USIU Flames proved to be too strong for Team Amazon, by beating them 13-9 in the semi-finals to book a slot in the finals with Team Hookies.
The team left nothing to chance after blazing and scorching the hopes of their opponents Team Hookies in a tightly contest 14-9 win.
In the men’s finals matches, Team Twende had to dig deep in their experience tank to outclass team Hookies 23-10 in a nail-biting fixture that had the fans on the edges of their seats.
Reflecting on the performance of their team Fridah Yakobo USIU flames team captain commended teams in the competition for showing incredible will to win in the competition.
“The level of competition was very high which underscores the impact of the Red Bull Half Court tournament. Playing in this competition has given me more exposure by putting me against the best players in Kenya. I can wait to play against some of the best players in the world at the world Finals,” said Yakobo.
On his part Mr. Hilmi Ali, the Vice President Kenya Basketball Federation, lauded the tournament for the impact it had in identifying the next generation of basketball in the country.
“We have seen new faces in the competition but we are impressed by the show of talent in display especially with teams from Eldoret and other towns. We are beginning to see the impact of the Half Court tournament especially in the ladies participating in the competition. I believe this is just the beginning of the journey on improving the quality of Basketball in Kenya,” averred Ali.
Reflecting on how tough the competition has become in the tournament since its inception, George Daryl, captain of Team Twende, commended their opponents for fair play and good competition spirit.
“We were really against some of the most experienced teams and players in the competition which means the quality of the game was very high. Despite all that we had to stick to our game plan to win the final tough game. I am grateful to Red Bull for organizing this competition it is definitely a good avenue for Basketball growth,” said Daryl.
Focus now shifts to the World Finals which will be held in New York US in October.