It was a weekend of mixed emotions for the Makerere Sparks as they recorded a win and a loss but the win was so sweet that it washed away the sorrows of the day before. 

On Saturday 22nd June, the Sparks returned to action after 2 weeks of rest and they took Angels Basketball Club at Nakasero Primary School court. 

The Sparks had their worst offensive performance of the season, scoring just 26 points in the whole game while restricting the Angels to 41.

Despite both teams being so poor on the day, the Sparks Coach Mavita Ali was furious with her players for putting up a lackluster performance against an Angels’ team that wasn’t as good on the day.

Makerere’s Denise Nabusgasha had a game-high 10 points and was the only player to have double digits.

The following day, the Sparks took on Legends in what they will term the best game they have played all season.

After the first quarter, Makerere trailed 15:6 against Legends but that sparked something in them and they turned up in the second.

In the first 2 minutes of the quarter, the Sparks employed the full-court press and as a result, they forced 4 turnovers and went on a 10:00 run before Legends called for a timeout.

The Rampage continued thereafter and the Legends couldn’t beat the press and they were forced into making multiple bad passes. 

The story was the same in the second quarter and despite both teams being very tired, the Sparks stuck to what worked for them, thefull-courtt press, and in the end they won the game 32:67.

Legends had only 6 people present and they lacked the services of their superstar Nabulobi Francaes and their point guard Mbone Brenda.

For Makerere, this is a very big win for the team, as taking down a big team like Legends will inspire more confidence in the team. They also played the full court press for an extended an amount of time and thus it will be a tactic they can employ in future games.

Game Stats vs Legends

Afua Nabawanga 23 pts, 8 rebs, 1 ast, 2 stl

Madelen Ayak 13 pts, 18 reb, 2 stl

Nakiryowa Belinda 12 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl