Basketball: Aga Khan confident of games glory

Shipundo Harrison (left, with ball) from Mpeketoni Boys High School dribbles the ball past Salim Abdallah (right) of Aga Khan Academy in one of the boys basketball match during the Coast Region Secondary Schools Term One Games at Mazeras High in Kwale County. [PHOTO BY GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD].

Coast secondary schools boys’ basketball champions Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa are confident of defending the title when the Term One games starts next Thursday.

Head coach Jimnah Kimani said his boys are in top form and ready to see off their opponents when they participate in the Mvita sub-county games scheduled for Thursday and Friday at Baptist and Khamis school play courts.

Kimani said his aim is to retain the Mvita sub-county, Mombasa County and the Coast region titles for the third year in a row.

“We are out to make our presence felt right from the sub-county to the national level. We have prepared well for the games,” he said.

Kimani said his players got much needed exposure last year in October when they participated in the East Africa Junior basketball tournament in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where they settled for the second position in the event that attracted 71 teams.

“Our participation at the Tanzanian event was an added advantage as it exposed my boys. I can see a lot of confidence since our return from Tanzania,” added Kimani who steered the team to finish in the fourth and fifth positions in 2016 and 2017 national games.

“We have been in camp since last September and I have moulded a winning side since then. We want to hold on to our titles for three consecutive years,” he said. [Ernest Ndunda]