Nairobi — Zetech Sparks head coach Maurice Obilo admitted that his girls were caught in the wind of the weight of the stage they were playing in, after a 75-61 defeat at the hands of Burundi's Les Hippos in their opening match of the Women's Basketball League Africa (WBLA) Zone Five qualifiers at the Nyayo Gymnasium on Monday.
Sparks are making their debut in the regional qualifiers, by virtue of finishing second in the Kenyan Premier League. Save for Mary Lisa Omondi, none of the girls in Obilo's team had ever played at such a stage.
Only shooting guard Ashley Minayo comes close, after a few experiences with the national team.
"I expected this because I have a very young team and almost all of them have never played at this stage. It was just a matter of experience at this level. They picked up slowly and we could see the fourth quarter was better but a little bit late. But, the confidence will come. They can compete at this level. I am 100 percent sure about this," Obilo said after the match.
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He added; "I will not put a lot of pressure on them, they will gain experience and as the tournament progresses we will see a better performance."
His sentiments were shared by point guard Mary Lisa, who returns to Zetech for the tournament after moving to USIU a year ago.
"Most of the players are at this stage for the first time but we will catch up. We have grown from this game and now we know how to start better. We will work on our weaknesses and definitely expect better from us in the next match," added the guard.
Lisa had a neat return of eight points, five rebounds and six assists in the tie. Only two players had double digit numbers on the scoresheet, the evergreen Christine Akinyi clipping in 18 points and added on seven rebounds while Ashley Minayo also put in a shift with 10 points.
Burundi's Hippos, powered by their foreign imports had a good buff with Senegalese Diedhiou Laurence Sabine earning a game-high 19 points. Nicole Collins had 13, Elsa Niyonkuru 14 and Bata Judith Hamel 12.
"It was great to start off with a win and the opening game is always scrappy especially because we are a new team and still getting to understand each other. But it was great to start off with victory. Our aim here is to come out and compete and get to win as many matches as possible. We know we will face tough teams but we are ready," Collins, one of the star performers for Hippos opined.
Zetech trailed 15-14 at the end of the first quarter, but they would have had a different result had they been more calm on the offense. They missed easy lay-outs, and the turnovers proved costly as Hippos capitalized.
They trailed 35-24 by halftime with Hippos extending the lead further in the third quarter, making the most of their aggression on the ball.
However, Zetech came alive in the fourth quarter with Akinyi being instrumental in the first two minutes before she limped out with a muscle cramp. They outscored Hippos by six points in the final quarter, but it wasn't enough to turn around the game for good.
Meanwhile, tournament favourites APR of Rwanda showed why they are considered a threat with a no-sweat-broken 97-42 thrashing of Gladiators.
Malian Kamba Yoro Diakite's 17 points and nine rebounds, spiced up with four assists boosted the Rwandese champions. She was one of six APR players with double digit scores. Senegalese Yacine Diop (15), Assouma Uwizeye (14), American Italee Lucas (14) as well as compatriots Destiny Promise Philoxy (11) and A'Lexxus Faith Davis (10) all had decent outings.
Speaking to Capital Sports after the match, Lucas reiterated they are only focused on winning, admitting they also feel favourites for the title but are not letting the pressure get in their heads.
"Of course we know and we hear what people are saying but that is for off the court. We don't let that get to us. We are just here to play some good entertaining basketball and win. That is all we want to do. We have seen the other sides and to be honest they are solid. But we are solid as well and we will keep growing. It was important to start the first game with a win and this sets us up for the rest of the run," said the American shooting guard.
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Coach Charles Mushumba also shared similar sentiments and despite winning huge, says they still haven't clocked the levels they should be at.
"Here, I am allowed to have four foreigners while back at home, we play with two and I mostly use just one. So now, I have three more new players in the team who we have to adjust to. I believe we will get better with each game but I am feeling happy we started the tournament with a win," the tactician stated.
In the last match of the evening, Zanzibar's Fox Divas picked their first win of the tournament after edging out Uganda's Magic Stormers 68-55.
