SCHOOLS: Central’s mighty giants hold grip

Tigoi Girls Irene Savana (centre) from western region tackles Maureen Kimani (left) and Pamela joy of Kerugoya from Central region during KSSS Term 1 National games at Kangaru School Embu County. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

There were no upsets at the Central region secondary schools competition as last year’s champions retained their titles.

Boys rugby and basketball powerhouse Alliance capitalised on home advantage to hold firm grip on their title. Loreto Limuru extended their dominance in girls’ basketball with a 40-33 win over Alliance Girls in the finals. Alliance successfully defended their boys’ basketball title with a 68-50 win over Mangu School.

Winnie Ouma was superb for Loreto, scoring an impressive 18 points while Britney Nafula scored nine. Leading by a point at half-time (17-16), Loreto struggled in the third and fourth quarters to see off Alliance as they ended at 23-17 points.

Limuru coach Stephen Muniu said they long to qualify for East Africa games. “It is our dream to play at the East Africa games. Last year, we came close to it but fell short after losing in the semis. We are determined to play in finals at the nationals and finishing in top two will see us through,” Muniu said.

Four-time East Africa girls’ champions Kerugoya proved their mettle after bagging their 14th title after blowing away arch rivals Karima to secure a spot in national finals.

Kerugoya, who stand out among the most consistent teams at the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association National Term One games, will have Jeniffer Wangari to thank for firing them into their 14th national appearance.

The two sides battled to a barren draw in regular time before Wangari scored the winning goal in the penalty shoot out.

Kerugoya coach Titus Karuri hailed his players: “They (Karima) have been improving steadily. They now have a strong fighting spirit that has earned them a 14th regional title."

In boys’ contest, Mpesa Foundation Academy were crowned champions after edging out Kangui 1-0 in the final.  

Alliance retained their rugby 15s trophy after thrashing Pioneer 31-0 in the final. Alliance' Tony James scored two tries while Davis Korir, Mark Kiptoo and Max Itegi scored one try each with Josiah Aming’a making three conversions. In the semis, Alliance beat Chinga 37-0 while Pioneer dismissed Nyahururu 17-0.

Kerugoya Boys beat Thika High 17-7 to lift rugby 7s title. Thika eliminated Kangema 17-0 while Kerugoya saw off Nyeri 19-0 in the semi finals. Mangu High and Kahuho defended boys' and girls' handball titles respectively.