Andrew
Online Reporter
HARARE basketball heavyweight, City Hornets, once again flexed its muscles, as both its men and women’s teams won what could turn out to be the first leg of the Harare Basketball Association (HBA) pre-season tournament, this past weekend.
Such was the overwhelming response from clubs in and outside Harare, that there is talk of yet another round of games in the coming weeks before the season finally explodes into action.
While nothing has been confirmed yet, a couple of clubs from Mutare and Bulawayo had to be turned away on the eve of the tournament, which was held between October 30 and 31, in Harare.
However, the biggest take-away from the weekend’s games was City Hornets’ dominance, more specifically their women’s team.
The reigning HBA Champions were using the tournament as preparation for this month’s International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Club Championship qualifiers slated for November 15 to 22, in South Africa.
Hornets made light work of Bulawayo-based outfit, Lakers, 32-15 in the final.
Ironically, the Lakers were also using the tournament as preparation for the qualifiers.
Zimbabwe will be represented by City Hornets and Lakers.
Hornets made it a double, when their men’s side beat Raiderz 56-44 in the final on Sunday night.
The municipal side then capped off the perfect night as Nyasha Katsatse and Noah Penduka claimed the Most Valuable Players (MVP) titles in the women and men’s categories, respectively.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter