All set for girls’ Under-20 basketball tournament

Sport
PREPARATIONS for the I Believe Breast Cancer Girls’ Under-20 basketball tournament to be hosted by Girls’ College on Saturday are now at an advanced stage.

PREPARATIONS for the I Believe Breast Cancer Girls’ Under-20 basketball tournament to be hosted by Girls’ College on Saturday are now at an advanced stage. RONALD MOYO SPORTS REPORTER

Zimbabwe Source Foods owner MacDonald Chironga, the sponsor of the tournament, said all was set for the tournament.

“Everything is now in order and we hope to be in Bulawayo by Thursday evening. We are going to give away the trophy, medals for winners and runners-up, T-shirts for players and our products like mealie-meal, flour and soya beans to boarding schools,” Chironga said.

Zimbabwe Source foods manufacturers are based in Harare and produce mealie-meal, flour and soya beans, among other products.

Chironga said the tournament would be an awareness campaign for the girl child about cancer.

“The aim of the tournament is to inform and raise awareness among students about the dangers of breast cancer,” he said.

Girls’ College and other schools: St James, Regina Mundi, Victoria High, Girls’ High, Dominican Convent (Bulawayo), Nkulumane, Founders, Ihlathi, Empandeni and Eveline will take part in the competition.

Prosper Jaya, the Girls’ College coach said they were prepared to host and win the tournament.

“We are now prepared to host the event and we are hoping to win the tournament though there are good teams such as Dominican Convent who won last year’s provincial National Association of Secondary Heads (Nash) finals and Nkulumane who won this year’s Nash finals,” Jaya said.

The hosts will be banking on 17-year-old Isabel Sibanda, who won a silver medal with the Under-20 Bulawayo provincial team in the Zimbabwe National Youth Games.

The tournament is organised by I Believe Sport Academy.

Meanwhile, Bulawayo Basketball Association league action continued at Northlea and Milton on Saturday with Unicorns winning all their games.

Unicorns edged hosts Milton 26-16 before beating Southern Mavericks 62-54.

Although Mavericks gave them a good run, Unicorns spokesperson Walter Mabhena said they were banking on experienced players in the team and he was confident that they would achieve something by the end of the season.

“We had an easy encounter against Milton. Although we won against Mavericks the going was tough.

“We are expecting a lot of challenging games because all teams are looking good, but we are banking on our senior players who are experienced,” Mabhena said.

In other men’s games Highlanders beat Lords 62-40 after a heavy loss to Giants 17-46 while ALCC narrowly edged Kings 38-35.

Lakers who started their season on a good note last week beating Stars 96-26, continued their fine run dismissing Hawks 76-20 in the women’s league. In the second women’s game, Giants beat Highlanders 46-17.