KATLEGO PHEEHA
On 15 August the Rembrandt Hall hosted the 2012 TuksBasketball Hostel League finals, which saw Taaibos and Erika end the day as champions.
Under Hostel League regulations, the matches were played with two 15 minute halves. Erika had beaten Magrietjie 21-11 to book a spot in the ladies finals. Their opponents were Madelief, who had outscored Inca 18-6 in a one-sided semi-final contest. The final started off slowly, with both teams shooting poorly. It was Erika that scored first, thanks to star player Kadi Diallo, but failed to capitalise on other scoring opportunities. Both teams looked determined to go home with the trophy and at the end of the first half the scores were still close at 10-8 to Erika.
The second half continued with the same intensity as the first, with the tempers between the players nearing boiling point. The game was proving to be both a tactical and physical contest, and with three minutes to go, the scores were tied at 12 apiece. Both teams came agonisingly close to scoring the winning basket but neither defence was giving an inch. The scores were still tied after regulation and the match went into a two minute over-time. Over-time started well in favour of Erika, with Kadi Diallo finally breaking the deadlock with a stunning three-point jumper. Just moments later, Erika found their way in the paint for another basket and finished the match 17-12 to be crowned champions. “I don’t know what happened with the basket I made in over-time. I just decided to go for it. I was open, there was no defender on me so I just decided to shoot and it went in. It was the important basket that we needed,” said Kadi Diallo after the game, who was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) after the match.
The men’s final saw Taaibos compete against YES-Tuks, a team of day students. Both teams started the match off at a very fast pace, trading three pointers and entertaining the crowd with reverse lay-ups and hang shots. Midway through the half it was Taaibos that had the early advantage with a 11-6 lead. YES-Tuks continued to play impressive basketball but were unable to keep up with the pace of Taaibos, and by half time, were trailing 16-6.
The second half saw Taaibos show more dominance as both sets of players started to show signs of fatigue. Taaibos went on a 5-0 run to start the half and create some breathing space. YES-Tuks continued to display some resistance but as fatigue set in, the sting in their offence had significantly dropped. In the end Taaibos won the title 23-11. For the men it was Taaibos’s Theo Malatji that won the title of MVP. “We played as a team. It was what we had decided at the beginning. We decided to play a quick game and I’m very happy that everybody played their part,” he told Perdeby after the match.
Photos: Gideon van Tonder
