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RWANDA’S junior Hoops claimed an 11th place finish after losing to Morocco in the classification match (9-11) in the on-going Afro-basket U-18 Men’s Championship in Maputo, Mozambique.

Rwanda lost to Morocco 66-74 to finish the tournament on a worst note. The junior hoops lost all quarters-12-17, 07-13, 19-23 and 18-21 respectively.

Morocco finished ninth after beating Gabon 77-71. The losers finished tenth ahead of Rwanda.

Nenad Amanovic’s young troops went to Mozambique with an intention of reaching the quarter finals.

Cote d’Ivoire who are set to meet in the finals yesterday by press time will also represent Africa in the World Junior Championship which will be held next year in Mexico.

Rwanda men’s U-18 Basketball team endured another painful defeat against Ghana on Monday as the boys lost 43-48, to record their third successive defeat at the ongoing Afrobasket U-18 Men’s Championship in Maputo, Mozambique.

The loss brings the morale of the whole team down, having started brilliantly against hosts Mozambique by thrashing them 62-34 on the opening day of the championship. They then went on to lose against Tunisia 38-43 and Mali 33-46. The final fixture in the group will be against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The championships which kicked off August 16^th will run until 25^th the same month.

Day 1, Thursday

Senegal 73-69 Gaborone

Cote d’Ivoire  60-51 Angola

Mozambique 34-62 Rwanda

RWANDA’S Junior Hoops ensured a bright start to this year’s Afrobasket U-18 Men’s Championship after thumping hosts Mozambique 62-34 at Desportivo Indoor Stadium in Maputo.

After lifting the Zone 5 trophy, the junior hoops are planning to finish atleast among the top six.

With a brilliant start against hosts, Rwanda must maintain their good start against other Group A opponents DR Congo, Mali, Ghana and Tunisia respectively.

The team was scheduled to face Tunisia on Friday afternoon by press time. In Maputo, the team will be relying on the trio of point guard Olivier Shyaka, Mohammed Rafiki and Eric Ngenzi who were without doubt the team’s outstanding players against Kenya in the zonal qualification matches.

In other matches played on the first day; Senegal beat Gaborone 73-69 while Cote d’Ivoire edged out Angola 60-51.

Los Angeles lakers Point Guard Steve Blake is in Rwanda for a nine-day state visit were he will have the opportunity of holding training clinics with local basketball players and coaches.

According to Rwanda basketball federation (Ferwaba), blake is in the country to look at some of the projects that he partners with New Life Ministries, an NGO that looks after orphans and also provides education to impoverished children, help hundreds of women and street children receive vocational training.

Blake will also play in two friendly matches against league champions KBC and a non-league Basketball club-Pebbles Basketball club.

Rwanda Basketball Federation Secretary General Richard Mutabazi said “He (Blake) will impart important skills to local players and coach and also inspire them.”

Africa New Life ministries currently provides nearly 1/2 million meals to those in need, manages two schools, three churches and six orphanage homes in Rwanda.

Kobe Bryant exploded into life in the second half as the United States eased into the semi-finals of the London Olympics.

Australia fought hard to keep the Americans in check, but had no answer once Bryant found his stroke.

The Los Angeles Lakers man had done little to live up to his superstar status in London prior to this game and reached half-time 0-for-four from the field and with as many fouls committed – 14 – as field goals made in the entire tournament.

But that changed in a big way in the second half as he made six-of-nine three-point attempts to fire a United States surge that killed off the Boomers.

Australia played the Americans hard in the first half but were let down by the simple things.

They reached the interval shooting just nine of 17 from the free-throw line.

They were also missing some straightforward lay-ups, with Patty Mills, Aron Baynes and Aleks Maric all guilty.

That allowed an American team hardly firing on all cylinders themselves to pull away gradually.

Deron Williams hit a pair of free throws late in the first quarter to make it 26-16.

Kevin Love made it 56-40 late in the first half, but Australia grabbed the last two points through Mills’ free throws and then exploded out of the gates after the break.

Mills and Joe Ingles combined on an 11-0 run, with Ingles hitting back-to-back three-pointers to make it 56-53.

The game stayed close until Bryant came up with back-to-back three-pointers that had his team-mates off their seats on the bench as the lead moved to 70-58.

A huge slam from Durant made it 80-66 as the Americans stepped it up late in the third quarter.

Bryant continued to pour in the points, and then Durant, LeBron James and James Harden brought out the party tricks with a series of late dunks.

Bryant finished with 20 points, Deron Williams had 18 and Carmelo Anthony 17. Kevin Durant added 14, James 11 and Love 10.

Mills led Australia with 26 and Ingles had 19.

Anthony Davis is living the dream, slamming down dunks at the London Olympics with the latest incarnation of the U.S. Dream Team as a 19-year-old player yet to play a National Basketball Association (NBA) game.

Davis was a late addition in place of injured forward Blake Griffin of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, and the U.S. college player of the year from national champions Kentucky has stepped up and won rave reviews from his illustrious team mates.

“He’s great. He’s going to be a great pro,” said LeBron James, the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals in June where he lead the Miami Heat to victory.

“He’s going to be a special player. You can definitely see that,’ added three-time NBA All-Star guard Deron Williams.

“He’s going to be a phenomenal player. He’s one of those guys who’s going to change a franchise for decades,” said three-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant.

Davis treated fans at the Olympic Basketball Arena to a sneak preview of his future on Tuesday as the 6-foot-10 (2.08m) number one pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Hornets got his first extended court time in a 110-53 rout of Tunisia.

He managed 12 points, going 5-for-5 from the field on five thunderous slams off alley-oop passes, one blocked shot and three rebounds in 14 minutes of playing time.

“I didn’t know it was going to be this much fun,” Davis told Reuters before practice for the Tunisia game. “They’re treating me good, make me feel like I’m part of the team, make me feel like I’m a (veteran), unless they get too lazy and don’t want to do nothing and I become a rookie again.”

The Rwanda U-18 basketball boys’ team are set to hold a training camp in Gabon as they prepare to take off to Mozambique for this years’ African Junior Championships that are slated for 16^th to 26^th August 2012. After their brilliant display during zone V qualifiers against Kenya in men’s category, the team hopes on building on that performance on a continental level.

And things couldn’t get better for the Junior Hoops as US based duo Kevin Mbundu and Marvin Mugisha were added to the team that is holding a camp at La Palisse Nyandungu. It is expected the two will be among the contingent that will take off to Gabon for the preparation camp.

On Sunday the 22^nd July, Rwanda made an historic and emphatic win over Kenya, beating them 68-29 and 94-38 in a two-legged affair to book their ticket to the finals.

Only two teams -Kenya and Rwanda- took part in the Zone 5 championships played in Kigali and as such played each other twice.

The winner of the African championships will qualify to represent Africa at the U-19 world Youth championships to be held next year.

The Rwanda boys U-18 basketball team on Sunday thrashed their Kenyan counterparts 94-38 to qualify for the African Youth Championships that will be staged in Mozambique. The boys had also beaten the Kenyans 68-29 on Saturday to deservedly book a place in the finals of the championships.

Luck, however was not on the ladies side as they lost to Kenya 71-58 on Sunday, after winning 54-50 the day before. The Kenyan ladies went to win the tie on better points.

Only two teams -Kenya and Rwanda- took part in the Zone 5 championships played in Kigali and as such played each other twice.

The winner of the African championships will qualify to represent Africa at the U-19 world Youth championships to be held next year.

The national U-18 basketball coach Nenad Amanovic is urging his team players to be cautious when playing Kenya in the Zone five qualifiers set for this weekend at Amahoro indoor stadium.

Rwanda will only come up against Kenya in a two-day event after regional countries (Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Ethiopia) bowed out of the tournament due in financial constraints.

Kenyan players are known to be physical and the Croatian-born coach has urged his players to not underestimate their strongest rivals but to go out there with focused minds.

“I have received reports that the Kenyans are very physical, so we are working on how to increase our aggressiveness to counter the physical aspect of their game,”

“It will be very competitive because we had penciled out Kenya as the biggest challenge.” the Croatian coach said dispelling claims that a two-team tourney will not be exiting.

The junior hoops will play two matches each in the men and women categories with the winners qualifying for African men and women Basketball championship slated for August and September in Mozambique and Madagascar respectively.

Newly signed New York Knicks point guard Jason Kidd was arrested early Sunday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after his vehicle struck a telephone pole, police said.

Southampton, New York, police responded about 1:56 a.m. Sunday to a single-car accident “in which a car struck a telephone pole and went into the woods,” police Sgt. Michael Burns said in a statement.

“Police responded to the scene and found the driver of the vehicle, Jason Kidd, age 39 of Dallas, Texas, to be intoxicated.”

Kidd was the only occupant of the Cadillac Escalade, authorities said. He was transported to Southampton Hospital for minor injuries, then was transported to police headquarters for processing.

He was released on his own recognizance, authorities said, and faces a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated by alcohol.

Kidd, who previously played for the New Jersey Nets and the Dallas Mavericks reportedly signed a three-year, $9.5 million deal with the Knicks on Thursday. The 17-year veteran is one of the oldest players in the NBA.