Saints beat national U19

THE Fiji men's under-19 basketball team narrowly lost to a star-studded Saints team 58-67 during the final of the Suva/Laucala Basketball League final at the Vodafone Arena on Friday night.

The junior national side stood their ground, lining up the Saints team laced with Fiji reps national captain Leonard Whippy, Josh Motufaga, Jese Sikivou and overseas-based Marques Whippy.

Fiji U19 coach Saula Koroi was happy with the performance of his young troops despite facing the experienced players in the Saints team.

He said his boys adapted well playing the FIBA international standard which required that the game to be played in two hours.

"It was a good game for us. The boys played really well in this game. It was like we were playing a Fiji team. They had four national reps and Marques who is based overseas," Koroi said.

"Despite the fact we lost in the final, I believe the boys gave their best shot. The final was played according to the international standard and the boys adapted well to it. It was tough but we learnt a lot from the big boys."

Koroi said there were still room for improvement before the team flies out for the FIBA Oceania Youth Basketball Championship in Australia at the end of the month.

"Playing the Saints team was a good learning experience for my boys. They are improving a lot but I think we still need to work on a few areas before we fly out."

Koroi added they would play few more games against top clubs like Warriors to test their combination.

 

Source: The Fiji Times Newspaper on Sunday 11th November 2012