KPA rue unplayable outdoor court for weekend loss

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) assistant head coach Samuel Ocholla has rued the substandard outdoor playing surface for their weekend loss against Zetech Sparks in the Women’s Basketball Premier League.

The dockers lost 48-68 to the Students in the last regular match of the season that determined the league leaders.

According to Ocholla, the team faced a difficult challenge at the Don Bosco outdoor court that the tactician termed as unplayable.

"First of all, it was about the venue. Playing outdoors at the Don Bosco court was challenging because the rims are very tight, and we are not used to such conditions.

‘We mostly train indoors, so adjusting was tough for us. We gave it our all, but unfortunately, our best wasn’t enough this time."

“Our opponents are used to such an environment, so their shots were dropping in well. They played a good game, they wanted it more than us, and at the end of the day, they got the win,” Ocholla admitted.

Ocholla now shifts focus to the playoffs, which they start this coming weekend when they play the University of Nairobi’s Dynamites in the quarter-final playoffs, a best-of-three series.

The two will clash in Game One of the series on Saturday in Nairobi in a yet-to-be-determined venue before hosting the students in Mombasa for Game Two and, possibly, Game Three.

UON Dynamites finished the regular season in seventh position with 29 points after winning seven matches and losing 15. Since Monday, the Dockers have been training in Nairobi to prepare for the weekend clash.

Ocholla is optimistic about winning, even as they look forward to working on their mistakes.

“We are not where we want to be yet, but we are working on fixing our mistakes so that by the time we play on Saturday, we will be ready and get a deserving victory,” Ocholla added.

KPA finished second on the log with 42 points from 22 matches (20 wins, two losses) while Zetech topped the standings with similar points.