Coach Mills made Morans a force in Africa as Lioness also impress

Kenya Morans coach Liz Mills.[Courtesy-FIBA]

In the past, when you mentioned basketball to any local fan, one would quickly name for you star players like Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Steph Curry of the NBA.

Interestingly, it was highly unlikely to find a local fan mentioning to you any top five Kenyan basketball players playing in the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) Premier League let alone know of any playing outside the country.

Fast forward to 2021, the situation has changed and not only do basketball fans know the men players but also female basketballers who have to put Kenya on the global map.

From Moran’s trio of Taylor Ongwae, Ariel Okall and Bush Wamukota to Mercy Wanyama, Felmas Koranga and Melisa Akinyi of Lioness, the list of local rising stars goes on.

This year was not only a year where new stars (Victoria Reynolds debuting for Lioness and Preston Bungei starring for Morans) were born but also a year Kenya showed their basketball prowess by sending both the national men’s and women’s teams to the 2021 AfroBasket.

With the coronavirus pandemic gripping the global sporting activities, no one saw Kenya, an underdog in basketball, qualifying for this year’s AfroBasket championship played in Rwanda and Cameroon.

Kenya Morans edged out 11-time African champions Angola 74-73 on February 20 to qualify for this year’s AfroBasket tournament for the first time in 28 years.

The historic win, which Morans fought to the last second for victory, saw them register their first ever win over the Southern African nation.

Morans finished third in the Group B standings with eight points after winning two matches in the group which consisted of Senegal, Angola and Mozambique.

Kenya Morans team in Kigali, Rwanda.[Courtesy-FIBA]

“This is one of my happiest moment in my basketball coaching career. Defeating a basketball power house and qualifying for the AfroBasket at the same time was magical,” said Morans head coach Liz Mills back then.

In August, Morans graced the continental showpiece in Kigali where despite a painful exit at the hands of neighbours South Sudan, Morans took Kenyans to wonderland.

A resilient Morans side was knocked out of the continental championships after a narrow 60-58 loss to South Sudan in their quarter-final qualifier. It was pure pain for Kenya, who were making their return to AfroBasket after a 28-year absence.

Morans lost 88-70 and 71-55 to Ivory Coast and Nigeria in their opening two Group C matches before reaching the qualification round for the quarter-finals after finishing third thanks to a 72-66 win over Mali.

Morans head coach Mills is however positive Kenya will grow and become a basketball force in Africa despite their AfroBasket disappointment.

Mills, who became the first woman to coach at the AfroBasket, said Kenya is still on a learning curve after many years in the cold and can only get better.

She said her focus now turns to the 2023 Fiba World Cup qualifiers where Kenya has been pooled in Group D alongside Egypt, Senegal and Democratic Republic of Congo.

“It is a great learning opportunity for us heading into the World Cup qualifiers. We are now going to start working on the opening minutes of our game.

“We are excited about the World Cup. AfroBasket was the first step and we have learnt valuable lessons here. We believe we can be in the top five. We have proven in AfroBasket that we are a team that nobody wants to play,” Mills said.

Morans forward Bush Wamukota gave credit to Mills’ technical input that helped them move forward.

“She changed our approach into a more mental game rather than just being physical. With videos coming onto play and deep scouting, it has helped the team to know ourselves better. She has made us to not only work harder but also work smarter,” Wamukota said.

Taylor Ongwae ended the campaign as Morans top performer after averaging 15 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists per game followed by Albert Odero and Ariel Okall with 14 points and 6 points per game.

Morans’ journey to Afrobasket started with a second-place ?nish at the inaugural FIBA AfroCan tournament in 2019.

Prior to the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, Kenya hosted the preliminary qualifiers of the 2021 Afrobasket championships at Nyayo Stadium gymnasium, where they won all their matches.

The Morans defeated Eritrea 112-64 before hitting Tanzania 95-59 in the second match. In Game Three, Kenya thrashed neighbours Somalia 102-77 before registering a 101-83 win against Burundi.

Kenya then sealed their ticket to the second round of the AfroBasket qualifiers after beating South Sudan 74-68 in a tight match that saw Griffin Ligare and Robert Nyakundi combine for 45 points to send Kenya through.

The dominant performance earned Morans the dream ticket to the second phase of the qualifiers where Kenya only needed to beat Mozambique and Angola to qualify.

In the first leg of the qualifiers played in Kigali in November last year, Kenya lost two consecutive group matches; against Senegal 92-54 and Angola 83-66.

Just as Morans were planning for the second leg onslaught, head coach Cliff Owuor ditched the national team and joined Rwanda Patriotic Army.

Under assistant coach Collins Gaya, Morans resumed training in the bubble until the new darling of Kenyan basketball fans, Australian coach Liz Mills came calling.

Mills took a new look Morans team to Cameroon ready to make history. And history she made.

For Lioness, they qualified for the 2021 AfroBasket in style after defeating pre-tournament favourites Egypt 99-83 in final of the Fiba AfroBasket Zone Five qualifiers played at the Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.

Led by US-based duo of Felmas Koranga and Victoria Reynolds, Kenya avenged the group match loss to the Egyptians (107-106) to seal a second consecutive appearance at the continental showpiece.

Reynolds, debuting for Kenya at the zonal qualifiers, was voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP) after helping the Lioness qualify for the AfroBasket. She was also voted the Best Small Forward of the tournament.

On the other hand, Koranga was named the Best Forward of the tournament after playing an instrumental role in helping Kenya claim the Eastern and Northern Africa basketball bragging rights.

Koranga, featuring for Troy University in the US finished as Kenya’s highest scorer with 88 points as Reynolds followed with 83 points.

In Cameroon, Lioness failed to impress after winning only one match and failed to reach the quarterfinals of the women’s Afrobasket played in September.

Locally, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) women were crowned Fiba-Africa Zone V Club champions in November after dominating the regional competition played in Tanzania.

KPA demolished Equity 71-35 to become the new champions and for the 10th time in their 19 years of participation.

Ulinzi Warriors on the other hand did not disappoint after reaching round 16 of the Basketball Africa League qualifiers.

 

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