The Rush Community Basketball Tournament finals will come on this Sunday at the Accra Polytechnic multi-purpose basketball court as four teams look forward to annexing the ultimate prize of $3000 dollars.
The qualified teams set to do battle for a spot in the finals will be Ashaiman Tigers, Osu Hawks, Tema Sharks and Tudu Warriors.
After eight weeks of irresistible basketball, all four teams progressed from two groups comprised of five teams respectively in Ghana’s first community based basketball tournament.
Basketballghana.com’s Yaw Adjei-Mintah looks at the Ashaiman Tigers-Tema Sharks and Osu Hawks-Tudu Warriors semi final match ups.
Ashaiman Tigers
The Tigers head into the final four on the back of three wins and a loss from the preliminary games. The Tigers play with lots of intensity and tend to dominate the boards at both ends of the court.
The team’s strength lies in the back court where Shooting Guard Elvis Pobi Siaw and Point Guard Emmanuel Amartey run the show. Elvis is the leading scorer in the competition by averaging 22.8 points per game.
However, the team’s sole strength in having the competition’s top scorer makes it easy for opponents to map defensive strategies to thwart his exploits.
The team will have to feature Center Bashiru Moro, John Teye Okumoh and Forward Paul Amralo more in its offense as both have demonstrated improvement as the tournament progressed.
Tema Sharks
The Sharks 17 points show in the first quarter against the Tudu Warriors in Week four showed the team’s strong attributes.
The team scored points through a variety of points generated in the paint, transition, jumpers and three pointers. Likewise, Tema’s production on offense and defense has gravitated from Emmanuel Borsah, MacMartey Larweh, Point Guard Dzormeti Gameli.
Tema’s scoring go numb for exended strecthes sometimes but will hope their balanced setup can taper any threats.
Both teams are located in the Tema Municipal Assembly in Ghana’s capital, Accra which is a major contributory factor for the intense rivalry between both teams.
Tudu Warriors
What stands out in a team with virtually quality players spread out in the team is defense. Tudu’s impressive switches on defense gave each opponent headaches in the preliminary rounds.
Aside shifting defensive responsibilities like without blinking, the Warriors go gallantly hard on defense as they typically their opponents and force them into tough shots and turnovers.
Anchored by top Center David Pinto, Tudu’s quest for ultimate glory will depend largely on its defense.
The only undefeated side in the competition is the undoubted favorites for the title. The Hawks have combined team work and hero ball perfectly they laid siege to the rest of the field in Group B.
The team can boast of having three former players of the week in Emmanuel Dickson, Benjamin Debrah and Mohammed Aziz.
Coach Sowah must be given a lot of credit for the team’s unbeaten run as he has consistently come up with plays that render opponents tactics unproductive.
Semi final proceedings will begin at 13:00 GMT this Sunday at Accra Polytechnic.
