Dolphins Swim To Basketball Title
Kabelo Boranabi | Monday November 16, 2015 11:43
The game started with both teams looking to get early points, but kept it tight at the back. The first quarter, which was fiercely contested ended with the teams level at 18 points apiece.
In the second quarter, Dolphins brought in a totally new team, with all their starting five put on the bench. The changes sparked frenzied attacks, which kept their opponents on the back foot.
The quarter finished with the defending champions trailing 31-36. Dolphins never looked back in the third quarter and capitalised on free throws while their opponents missed most of their throws.
With Dolphins compact, Troopers were forced to try three pointers as they could not break into the final third; they trailed by 39-56 in the third quarter. In the last quarter, Troopers came in looking for a comeback but their efforts were in vain as they continued to miss their free throws. The game became physical midway through the quarter, but the umpires managed to calm the situation. Winning coach, Trinos Moyo expressed happiness with his team’s play on the night.
“I’m happy to have won the league. This is my third year coaching here and it is my first time to win the title, so this is an achievement to me as well,” he said. “Our plan was to have two players in every position. The aim was to tire them and it worked as they were tired before we went for half time,” he said.
Troopers coach, William Nyangu highlighted that his team failed to capitalise on the chances they had adding that they did not show the hunger. “We lost the game in free throw line; that’s what really cost us the game.
I think we lost like 20 points from the free throws. Today, our free throws were terrible,” he said. “Coming into game we knew that most of their players are one handed, so the game was to force them to use the weaker hand to dribble. It worked at first. I can’t really tell where we lost it,” Nyangu said. >
Other boxers who made it to the semi final are: Kagiso Bagwasi, Kabelo Bagwasi, Thabiso Mpolokeng, Oteng Phatswe, Mmoloki Thipe, Kutlwano Omaketse and Batsha Motlhabanyi.
It was an interesting bout between Motlhabanyi and Bokamoso Molaodi when it ended up with a draw. Motlhabanyi qualified through individual points.