Sports
ADEOLA Adebesi, the Head Coach of Heat Kings Basketball Academy on Saturday blamed his team’s late arrival to match venue for their defeat by Raptors Basketball Academy.
Raptors whitewashed Heat Kings 95-49 in their round seven match of the ongoing Youth Alive Basketball League in Lagos.
Adebesi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that his team did not live up to expectations in their defeat by ‘a much more organised team’.
“We played very poorly and deserved to loose, we arrived late to our match venue and had only six players in the first quarter of the game.
“We were completely blown away because we were understaffed and it affected the scorelines at the end of the match.
“We have to go back to the drawing board, ensure we do the necessary corrections and come back stronger for our round eight match,” Adebesi said.
Similarly, Coach Charles Ibeziako of Raptors told NAN that his players were the best in the U-15 Junior elite group, adding that they were not intimidated by other teams.
“We have the best crop of players that train hard all day; they have also been together for sometime now and know each other so well.
“We can’t loose until the end of the season as we will continue to beat opposition with 20 points and above anytime we meet in the league matches,” Ibeziako said.
In other matches played at the Row Park Sporting Complex, Yaba, Warlord Basketball Academy defeated Hoops Pirate 60-53 to claim their round of seven match triumph having lost five consecutive matches.
It was Warlord who took the first quarter by 15-13 in a closely-fought first quarter before Hoops Pirate came out stronger in the second quarter to win 27-23.
Warlord would change it by fighting harder in the third quarter which they won 37-34 before running away eventually with their victory in the final fourth quarter of the match.
Tolu Onifade Head Coach for Hoops Pirate also said that his team’s lose of concentration caused their defeat by Warlord.
“We started the game well and we could have gone all the way but lost concentration and could not match up with the strength of the opposition.
“We have to go back to the drawing board and see where we can fix so that we can come back stronger in the round eight games,” Onifade said.
His opposite number, Tamilore Fariyibi said his team did well and deserved the victory.
He said they simply listened to half-time instructions and played harder on the defense.
“The players took to instructions and perfected all the mistakes that were sighted in the match.
“It was a very good game and a very good result, we hope to continue this way,” Fariyibi said. (NAN)
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-April 28, 2024 @ 08:24 GMT|
Tags: Adeola Adebesi Tolu Onifade
