The Renaissance Aiglon Athletic Club (Cara) dethroned the Interclub on September 10 at the Maxime-Matsima gymnasium at the end of a final of the 39th edition which kept all its promises. Cara won on the wire (57-56) after scoring another basket in the very last seconds.
The final is not played but it is won. Most often, victory goes to the most committed and determined team. During the pre-match warm-up, we could already read on the faces of the Aiglons the desire to take revenge on a team which had beaten them on the second day.
On the pitch, Interclub’s supremacy during this match was very brief. After dominating the first quarter 16-13, the defending champions spent the majority of time chasing the score. Cara dominated the second quarter (29-28) maintaining its advantage until the third (43-40), before letting go ten seconds from the end. Interclub came back in front 56-55. The time-out requested by Cara’s coach caused a trigger, because on the last action Cara went back in front.
“I asked the players to play one on one and we did it. It wasn’t easy because in the fourth quarter the players were tired. We knew how to maintain the rhythm,” explained Aristotle Kiba, Cara’s coach. Black Lion completed the podium in the senior men’s category. Mouzita de Cara was the top scorer with 110 points.
In the ladies’ category, Inter got the better of Brazza basket 58-28. “It’s a title that brings a lot of pleasure, especially a lot of motivation to my players because they’ve been chasing this title for a while,” commented Jim Bilda, the coach of Interclub. ECB occupied third place among the senior ladies. Ariane Makanguila (ECB) is the player who scored the most points (106). The fair play award of the competition went to the BBS team.
Among the juniors, AS Otohô won the trophy by beating Etoile du Congo 80-55. BBS finished in third place while the player Tchissambou from CPGOS is the top scorer with 121 points.
Among the cadets, CPGOS took the best of BBS 57-51. Black Lion completed the podium and Ganiamo from AS Otohô received the prize for best scorer with 70 points. The president of the Congolese Basketball Federation (Fécoket) appreciated the level of the competition. “We must not be discouraged. We must continue to love and practice this sport until it regains its place on the continental stage,” declared Bruno Jean Richard Itoua.
He made a commitment to create the conditions for Congolese basketball players to return to international competitions. The national technical director, he explained, will tour across Congo to build a national team in all categories. “At the government level, my colleague from Sports and I as well as the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, we will do everything so that by the end of the year the question of the Fiba debt is resolved,” added the president of Fécoket.
2023-09-13 09:04:13
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