Cantonment Braves win Renewed Hope basketball tourney

Cantonment Braves of Onigbongbo LCDA, Ikeja, have emerged champions of the maiden edition of the Renewed Hope Basketball Tournament for political wards in the Ikeja Federal Constituency.

Against all odds, Cantonment Braves defeated their much-fancied opponents, Hoops and Read 44-37 to win the championship after five days of intense grassroots basketball.

18 teams representing the wards in the constituency contested for the championship, the huge cash prize and the glittering giant trophy.

The finals of the championship, which was sponsored by Olawale Fadare, the Personal Assistant on General Duties to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and supported by Young Professionals For Tinubu, were witnessed by distinguished personalities in the sports and political sectors.

Amongst the guests was the Leader of the House, Onigbongbo LCDA, Hon. Francis Nkwo, Mrs Oby, General Manager of Reformers Basketball Club, Abuja, retired police officer and renowned basketball coach Mark Balogun, as well as coach Ayodele Bakare.

Speaking during the final, Balogun commended the sponsors and organisers of the basketball event and admonished the participants to take the game seriously, as it is a path out of social vices and to a glorious career.

Alex Oware, the National coordinator of YP4T, commended the selflessness and commitment of the sponsor towards re-engineering the society and particularly engaging and empowering the youths through the renewed hope agenda of President Tinubu.

He assured that the championship would not be a one-off event, as there are plans for further collaborations on life-changing initiatives and programmes for the benefit of the people.

Tournament Coordinator Kenneth Agba thanked the sponsor, supporters and members of his LOC for a successful tournament. He promised that subsequent editions would be better and bigger.

Cantonment Braves received the first prize money of N500,000, second-placed Hoops and Read received N300,000, Ebun Comets got N200,000 for finishing third, while Bobcats received N100,000.

The other 14 teams that participated also received N50,000 each as appearance fees.