Cheers and tears mark Mombasa County games

Sydney Otieno (facing right) of Aga Khan Academy battles for the ball with Shadrck Khasolo (facing left) of Ushindi Baptist High School in the boys second semi final basketball match during the Mombasa County Secondary Schools Term One ball games at Shimo la Tewa High School. March 15, 2017. Aga Khan Academy won the match to qualify for the finals against hosts Shimo la Tewa High. [PHOTO BY GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD].

There were mixed feelings on the final day of Mombasa County's secondary schools Term One games at Shimo La Tewa High School.

Boys’ basketball champions Aga Khan Academy Mombasa retained the title as their sister school relinquished their trophy to new champions.

Aga Khan defeated Shimo La Tewa High School 76-44 in a win that granted them a ticket to the Coast Region games.

On their way to the final, Aga Khan also defeated Ushindi 97-11, while Shimo La Tewa beat former champions Baptist High School 53-38.

In the girls' category, Mama Ngina were crowned the new county champions after they defeated Coast Girls High School 48-21 in the final.

Last year's champions Aga Khan lost 35-12 to Mama Ngina in one of the semi-finals, while Coast Girls floored Mbaraki 35-2 in the second.

In boys’ hockey, last year's champions Shimo La Tewa surrendered the title after losing 3-1 to St Charles Lwanga in the final.

In the girls’ category, however, St Charles Lwanga defended their title without dropping a point.

In rugby, Shimo La Tewa were declared the champions after they floored their opponents with ease. They had nine points. Kajembe finished second while Bububu came third.

Meanwhile, East Africa secondary schools girls' basketball champions Kaya Tiwi School begin their title defence campaign tomorrow, when Kwale County Term One games begin at Matuga High School.

The team, which is handled by their school principal, Robert Aran, is confident of retaining the title. In fact, they have vowed to make the sport their forte both at national and East Africa levels.

In an interview, Aran said he did not expect a stiff challenge at the county level and would use the games to gauge the girls' preparedness ahead of the regional games.

“Being national and regional champions, all schools will be looking forward to upseting us but we are ready for them,” said Aran.

“We are adequately prepared to defend our title. We won the 2016 School of the Year Soya award and we must play as champions,” he added.