Equity, KPA get Zone Five campaign off to good start

Kenyan representatives at the ongoing FIBA Africa Zone Five Women's Club Championship in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Equity Hawks and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) have picked back-to-back wins to better their chances of clinching the title in the round-robin meet. 

In the championship that threw off on Friday 19 November, Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) champions Hawks have picked two wins, a 53-33 thrashing of Rwanda Energy Group (REG) on Friday before labouring to beat another Rwandese side Hoops 53-51 on Saturday 20 November. 

Betty Kananu top scored for the bankers in both matches hitting double digits on points against REG at 13 before knocking down 16 against Hoops while Belinda Okoth contributed 18 in Saturday's match as the David Maina-coached side struggled to pick a two-point win. 

"It was a very close match that took everything we had to win. After losing to KPA on the tournament-opening fixture, they came guns blazing to try and squeeze in a win. They have very good players and 

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My players had to go an extra mile for this victory. They used thier experience because most of them had been in such situations, but they still had to dig deeper for it," said coach Maina who is hoping to guide the bankers back to winning ways , having last won the title in 2018. 

On their part, 2017 championship winners KPA won their tournament-opening match 80-36 against The Hoops of Rwanda before facing off with Don Bosco of Tanzania on Saturday night where they made easy work of the home team in a 70-21 outcome. 

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Against Don Bosco, Natalie Akinyi and Rebecca Nkatha hit double digits on points at 14 and 10 respectively to help the side stay dominant against a seemingly inept Tanzanian side. 

On Sunday, Hawks take on Burundi's Gladiator while coach Antony Ojukwu's charges play REG. On Monday, the tables turn and the dockers play REG while Hawks take on Tanzanian side Don bosco ahead of the all-Kenya match on Tuesday at 7 pm. The final Kenyan encounter is highly likely to determine this year's champions.

The two Kenyan sides take their rivalry to Tanzania where all things point to a thriller. In the local league, Hawks won the first leg encounter this season by four points while KPA picked a 20-point win in Mombasa in the return match. Those are the only defeats both sides have suffered so far in the KBF league with the dockers toping the standings.