Olympic and St John Junior Secondary Schools have performed exceptionally in the girls’ and boys’ category of the recently concluded first Junior NBA and Safaricom tournament at the Sabis International School in Nairobi.

The M-PESA Jr NBA programme launched last week by the National Basket Association (NBA) Africa and Safaricom saw Nairobi play host to one of the four regional basketball tournaments for youth ages 13-16 in the country.

The Olympic boys’ and girls’ teams were the stars of the court in the maiden tournament that had an impressive turnout of 24 schools with more than 500 junior players.

In the girls’ semi-finals, Olympic Junior Secondary team beat Daima Junior Secondary team 26-4 in a one-sided match on the outdoor courts as St John Junior was made to sweat before edging out Chrisco Junior 12-10 in an entertaining encounter.

In the boys’ semi-finals, Olympic Junior Secondary were in a class of their own as they brushed aside Harambee Junior Secondary team 15-6 in the first semi-final while St John Junior Secondary pushed hard before edging out favourites Makini School 16-14.

In the third-place play-offs, Daima Junior Secondary emerged victorious after edging out Chrisco Junior Secondary team 13-5 in the girls’ tournament, while Makini School hammered Harambee Junior Secondary team 23-10 to take the bronze medal in the boys’ competition.

In the final, Olympic Junior Secondary won gold in the girls’ competition after thrashing St John Junior Secondary team 25-03 in a one-sided affair. However, the tables turned in the boys’ final as St. John Junior Secondary team edged out Olympic Junior Secondary team 17-14 in the tightly contested match.

“It feels great. We have really worked hard and winning a tournament like this is a just reward for all the efforts we put in,” expressed Ezra Alenga who coaches the Olympic Junior Secondary teams.

Alenga said preparations were vigorous because the team had been training since schools closed in November (2024).

“When others went on holiday, we remained behind in Nairobi to train. The rewards are showing right now,” he reiterated.

“We have been working over this for years. We prepared over time, it feels good because it was a nice competition and very tough by the way. My boys were disadvantaged because of their size and our opponents in the final were very physical. But we were tactical and shot from the three points line that they did not guard, and that is how we scored baskets,” elaborated coach Brian of St John Junior Secondary School in Korogocho.

Meanwhile, 40 coaches were also on site to help with the work outs for the players before the games.

Additionally, some of the boys and girls will be selected for the Junior NBA elite 100 camp in April in Mombasa.

“We had all the 500 players playing games and doing work outs. 100 were identified for more workouts on day two before the semi-finals and finals. Fifteen girls were selected for the ‘for her’ camp by the Basketball Africa League camp in Nairobi at the end of February during the BAL weekend in Kenya,” explained Mike Finley, Kenya Country Lead for NBA Africa.

• A Tell / KNA report / By Michael Omondi