St. John’s Korogocho and Olympic Junior School boys and girls respectively are the The Jr. NBA M-Pesa basketball winners during the National Finals that came to an end Friday, April 11th at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa.
With both teams coming from Nairobi, the top youth basketball talent from across Kenya delivered a thrilling showcase of skill, teamwork, and sportsmanship.
These finals followed the Jr. NBA M-Pesa Elite Top 100 Camp, also held earlier in the week in Mombasa. The camp brought together 100 of the country’s most promising U16 players—50 boys and 50 girls, selected from regional tournaments held in Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret, and Kisumu, along with additional scouting across other regions.
In the boys’ final, St. John’s Korogocho defeated hosts Aga Khan Academy Mombasa 30–23, with Moses Ochieng named Boys MVP.
The girls’ final saw Olympic Junior School edge past Oasis Shelter Girls (Nyanza) in a tense 19–16 showdown, led by Girls MVP Brenda Akinyi.
Both winning teams had earlier triumphed at the Nairobi Regional Tournament held at Sabis International School on February 22nd and 23rd, showcasing early signs of championship form.
Speaking after the National Finals, Coach Ezra Alenga of Olympic said:
“The future is to use this victory to inspire everyone who plays basketball in Kibra, coming from humble beginnings to believing they can actually do it… we want to show them it’s possible. I hope these girls will inspire that kind of message to the rest of the people in Kibra in Nairobi and I hope they inspire more to join the game of basketball.”
Coach Brian Busaka of St. John’s added:
“We are going to continue putting in the work, more training, get more players on board and try to transition what we have done to the other players… So, we keep working.”
Both were awarded Coach of the Year honours.