By Rasheed Adewuyi
On Wednesday, the Ogun State Basketball team, Fortune Basketball Academy, qualified for the National Finals in Abuja after defeating Oyo State’s Hoop Dreams Basketball Academy 7-7, 10-7, 6-3, 4-5 in the finals of the Female South West Championship.
The Ogun State team had beaten Lagos State’s NUKAM Basketball Academy 4-3, 3-4, 6-5, 5-3 in the semi-final encounter to qualify for the final on Wednesday.
The dominant Ogun team overpowered their opponent, with Kehinde Kolawole firing 12 points to help her section win the quarters.
In the third-place final, the Books ‘N’ Ball of Osun State proved their superiority over Lagos NUKAM Basketball Academy, scoring 9-4, 5-8, 9-7, and 5-6 to win the bronze medals.
Addressing journalists shortly after the final held at the Basketball court of Alake Sports Centre, Ijeja, Abeokuta, the Ogun state female Basketball Coach, Adebayo Iyabode, said the competition has helped in the discovery of new talents for the state.
Coach Iyabode noted that the championship has bridged the gap between secondary school leavers and those in the league.
She said the regional qualifier has made the girls more professional and enabled the coaching team to work on their psychology.
“This Wesie basketball competition is to bridge the gap between secondary school leavers and those not yet in the league so they can learn the game.
“The team is young, and we are executing the National finals with these girls. I won’t invite any other senior players. Training females in sports generally is more difficult. We were able to train them with the best training on and off the court and prepare them psychologically.”
Meanwhile, Team Ogun and Oyo State’s HoopDreams Basketball Academy will represent the South West region at the National finals billed to hold in December 2022
