Comets Basketball Club of Lagos on Wednesday defeated city rivals Lagos Legends 58-52 to emerge the winner of the Crown Elite Basketball Championship.
The two-day competition with eight teams competing for honours in Lagos would go down as a project which gave the youths the opportunity to express themselves.
As winners, Comets went home with N1million cash for their efforts, while the second place team Legends went home with N500,000.
Other participating teams include Raptors, University of Lagos, ABU Knights, Edo Beads, Lagos Islanders and Warriors.
The organisers also seized the occasion to impact on the youths the importance of education and why youths must take that aspect seriously for a better future.
Coach Seun Akinwale of Comets told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that his team played to instructions and were disciplined in the approach of the game.
He said that the just concluded Division where they came second helped them to be more prepared and determined to do well in the competition.
“It is a great thing for us to win the championship, we played well as a team and we’re more disciplined in the approach of the game.
“We are very thankful to the organisers for opportunities like this because it goes a long way to help the players shappen their skills,” Akinwale said.
Similarly, Hanson Oguche, the proprietor, Crown Elite Basketball Championship, told NAN that the competition was a success and brought out the best in the participating teams.
He said that essence of the competition was to add value to the already existing basketball leagues in Nigeria and give the youths more avenues to express themselves.
He said that as an ex-international, he felt it was necessary to come back and give back to the development of the game and motivate the youths to aim higher.
He called on other individuals and corporate world to come and throw their weight behind sports development.
“It’s been an interesting event as the players rose to the occasion to compete for the championship first place price.
“We are greatly encouraged by what we saw and we intend to do more in the future, we thank the Nigeria Basketball Federations for their support,” Oguche said.
Edem Ekpeyong, one of the organisers, said the competition was keenly contested and that it brought out the best from the young energetic players.
He said that with more competitions the future is very bright for home groomed talents.
The competition, which began on Tuesday, ended on Wednesday at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium
