26 Nov 2018

Dolphins and Police V will meet in the Botswana  Basketball League playoff finals after winning their matches in game two of the three series on Sunday.

Dolphins defeated BDF V 73-67 while Police V beat Troopers 48-47.

The youthful Dolphins raced out of the gates in the first quarter leading the much experience BDF 22-14 in the first quarter and maintained the same energy to end the second quarter with a an impressive 40-31 lead.

Led by national team veteran, Israel Mphato, BDF V came back strongly in the third quarter and made 18 baskets to cut the deficit to seven points heading in the final quarter, but Kesaobaka Ndawanya dominated the fourth quarter on both ends and led Dolphins to victory to secure a date with Police V in the playoffs final.

Dolphin’s point guard, Ndawanya put up a man-of-the-match performance recording a double double dropping 30 points and picking 12 rebounds to guide Dolphins to a sterling performance that only needed a victory to go with it.

 In a game that was marred with turnovers on both sides, bad shooting and tempers flying, BDF V stayed close through the third quarter, before taking control in the final quarter, winning it 18-17, but Dolphins’ earlier buckets in the first half came in handy as they held on to win the game.

BDF V were their own worst enemy, hitting just 6-of-23 from the field in the period, including 1-of-11 on three-pointers.

While in the ladies series, BDF V ladies sailed through to the finals following a 52-28 victory against the Dolphins ladies side. In a postmatch interview, Dolphins head coach, Trynos Moyo credited his team for a spirited performance adding that it was a great achievement as they entered the game as underdogs.

He said the team never had it easy in the league due to their youthfulness and lack of resources.  “It is always difficult to play against season campaigners like BDF and Police since they are well resourced and financially stabled. A lot of times we rely on high schools students, who end up being poached by the institutional teams, as they are well established,” he said.

Despite lacking the right basketball body structure, Moyo highlighted that local players were equally gifted to compete in major tournaments and professional leagues if the right development structures were in place.

Therefore, he pleaded with relevant authorities to invest more on the development of basketball, particularly at grassroots level. BOPA