Augusco, Aggrey are 2016 Sprite Basketball Champs
St Augustine's College and Aggrey Memorial Zion Senior High School (SHS) last Thursday won the boys and girls titles, respectively, at the 2016 Sprite Ball Championship after defeating Mfantsipim School and Accra Wesley Girls SHS in the finals played at the El-Wak Stadium.
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Both Augusco and Aggrey staged impressive comebacks in front of a teeming crowd to upstage their opponents, with Aggrey beating Accra Wesley Girls 9-8 to lift the trophy in the girls division.
St Augustine's also came in strongly from a 0-8 deficit against defending champions, Mfantsipim, to win 37-22 in a keenly contested game.
Aggrey ended their run of losing in four consecutive finals with their win over Accra Wesley Girls, with key players Joana Danso and Juliana Cudjoe scoring crucial baskets as the game drew to a close to complete an impressive comeback.
However, debutants Accra Wesley Girls did not go home empty handed with their playmaker Rita Atimbila being voted Fans Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Both teams headed into the keenly contested boys final with an unbeaten record - St Augustine's beat Prempeh College and Pope John's in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively while Mfantsipim accounted for the exit of St Thomas Aquinas SHS and Opoku Ware SHS to book their place in the finals.
The defending champions appeared to be coasting to a record fifth Sprite Ball title on the bounce with playmaker Kofi Aboagye sinking a three-pointer and giving two assists in the first quarter to give Mfantsipim a comfortable lead.
However, St. Augustine's rallied with talisman Dennis Dugbenu (alias Mantse) having a huge impact at both ends of the court by dominating the rebounds which contributed to a 18-10 lead for his team at the break.
St Augustine’s themselves went on a scoring run of their own, scoring nine unanswered points from the free throw line as Mfantsipim resorted to fouling to halt their offence.
Mfanstsipim’s defensive pillar, centre Elorm Dzissah, fouled out of the game, giving Mantse free rein to dominate the game.
A late four-point scoring surge from Mfantispim's Aboagye was too late to inspire a comeback as Augustine's tightened their defence to claim a famous win over their Cape Coast based rivals.
Pope John’s SHS and two-time champions, TI Ahmadiyya placed third in the respective boys and girls matches after defeating Opoku Ware and Kumasi Girls SHS.
The tournament's Most Valuable Player award went to Augustine’s coach Dennis Dugbenu while St Augustine's coach Lawrence Ampiah was adjudged the best coach of the contest.
