Raiders, Miracle Workers through to Red Bull Half Court finals

Raiders and Miracle Workers were crowned winners of the Kisumu edition of the Red Bull Half Court competition in the men’s and women’s category respectively. 

The competition was held at the Jomo Kenyatta Sports ground in Kisumu.  

The competition attracted 27 men and women teams from the region who were fighting for a slot to compete at the National finals to be held in Nairobi on the 1 June. 

The men’s final was action packed with both teams trying hard to capitalise on three-point shots to win the game. 

Eventually Raiders proved too tactically strong for their opponents after they outsmarted them 8-7 to snatch a much-deserved win to be crowned the Kings of Kisumu.  

Speaking after the competition, Raiders team captain Willis Ochieng attributed their win to the team’s hard work and the newly introduced three-point rule in the compecompetition.

“The three-point rule has introduced a new dimension to this year’s competition as a team our whole training strategy was centred around the rule," he explained. 

 “The Red Bull 3x3 is bringing on a good impact and you can see players are preparing and ready for it, the level is very high and the competition is very stiff," he further noted.

On her part Caisey Wanjiru the captain of Swift, one of the ladies’ teams that progressed to the Nairobi finals noted that they will be preparing well as they get ready to face champions from other parts of the country.

“I have played every Red Bull competition since it started. I can attest to the fact that my skills have improved significantly. Looking back, I can say that my experience has increased and I have become better in every edition of the competition," she offered. 

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Red Bull Half court Kisumu coordinator Brian Lusaga noted that the level of the competition had gone a notch higher as a result of the impact of the annual tournament.

“People here have really enjoyed the game, at the moment people are improving and changing their game to fit 3x3 and we are happy that with such exposure our players are really growing.

The new rule has changed how the defense plays because anytime you see a player at the three-pointer mark the defense come out making the game more open and interesting," Lusaga offered.