adminPetros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
EMERGING Zimbabwe basketball giants Harare City Hornets powered to their first international title over the weekend when they clinched the Brave Hearts Invitational Challenge tournament in Lilongwe, Malawi. Led by power forwards Simbarashe Mngomezi and Tatenda Maturure and anchored by Nathan Warikanda, Shonhiwa Ushe and Neville Chivhanyange, they overcame top Zambian outfit NAPSA Hurricanes 81-76 in a thrilling men’s final at Mt Sinai Court to win their first gold.
They had twice finished as runners-up in previous international assignments in Swaziland and in Bulawayo last year.
The “Sting of Excellence’’ as Hornets are affectionately known, have been on a roll since winning promotion into the Harare Basketball Association’s A-League that was characterised by an unbeaten run in the second tier league.
Hornets, who are one of a few professionally run basketball clubs in the country, have proved that their record run in the B- League was no fluke by also dominating in the A- League in which they lead such seasoned campaigners like JBC, Hustlers, Raiders, Varsity Leopards and Cameo and look well poised for the HBA championship with five games remaining.
Hornets have lost only once on the domestic front — a surprise defeat to Glen View Rockets in the HBA League Week 21 fixture at Richwood — that came on the eve of their tour of Malawi and a loss in their opening game at the Lilongwe tournament.
The wheels then appeared to have come off unexpectedly for Hornets when they also stumbled to an opening Day defeat in their first game against Malawian outfit Cougars in their group matches.
That narrow 28-27 defeat by Cougars sent shock waves in the Hornets dressing room and left a fuming coach Langton “LK” Moyo giving his players a hair-dryer.
“After our defeat in the first game, we definitely spoke and told each other unprintable words and it later worked out for us. We do not doubt our talents but sometimes complacency creeps in and up to now I still can’t quite understand how we lost to Cougars who eventually could not make it beyond the group stage,’’ Moyo said.
Hornets were one of two Harare clubs at the tournament with the other being the youthful Foxes outfit that was eliminated at the group stage.
Although they won the trophy with triumph over NAPSA, Moyo admitted that the Zambians had given then tough night in the final.
Online Reporter