After two successful outings and a defeat, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) have now shifted their focus to the quarter-finals of the 2025 Women Basketball League Africa (WBLA) in Cairo, Egypt.
The dockers, who returned to the continental stage after a year in the cold, advanced to the last eight after finishing second in Group B with five points. They lost their last preliminary game to defending champions Ferroviario de Maputo from Mozambique, but their two wins were good enough to see them through to the knockouts.
KPA coach Nabil Kabalan remained positive, saying that they will not let the defeat to Ferroviario dampen their spirits.
“When we win, we don’t want to get very high, and when we lose, we don’t want to get very low, this is very important for us. I’m still very proud of my team, they are doing their best,” Kabalan said.
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He, however, decried his charges’ inability to fix their mistakes, more so unnecessary turnovers which proved costly.
“We had a great comeback in the second half, we were down by 12 points but came back and were up by three points. We did everything, but with 27 turnovers we can’t win a game because we can’t beat high-level teams with 27 turnovers,” he added.
Kabalan was full of praise for Allexxus Johnson, underscoring that she is a world-class player that they need, noting that their troubles started when she fouled out.
“Allexxus is a huge offensive player, she had good numbers and a good game, but when she went out, it’s like offensively our players got tired. She was helping us a lot, so when she went out, it was a huge hit for us, but we have to deal with it,” said Kabalan.
The former Al Ahli Tripoli and Libya men’s national team assistant coach had earlier noted that Johnson was having trouble adapting to African basketball, especially officiating, because she has played in Europe for the better part of her career. This was after KPA’s opening match, where she had fouled out, having only played 11 minutes.
Despite her foul trouble, Johnson led KPA with a match-high 24 points and was also the game’s top rebounder with 12. Sara Nicole Dickey knocked down 22 points and was the best ranked in efficiency with 27.
Ingvlid Macauro top scored for Ferroviario with 17 points, with Odelia Mafanela adding 14. Ferroviario’s victory was more of teamwork as four other players hit double-digit scores. Makira Cook, Destiny Pitts and Stefania Chiziane scored 12, whereas Silvia Veloso had 10.
Hosts Al Ahly Sporting Club topped Group A with six points after winning all their matches. Rwanda Energy Group (REG) finished second with five points, the same as KPA in Group B, but will rank lower than the dockers due to an inferior point difference. The ranking was done last evening after the completion of Group C matches.