Young power forward Rachel Obeng can take comfort in knowing she was voted the fans’ favourite player after missing out on the MVP award.
The youngster was a delight to watch as she dazzled fans at the El-Wak stadium, holding high the flag of Kumasi-based T.I Ahmadiya School aloft.
Real Amass made their debut appearance in the competition and surprised many at the venue with a performance that has left tongues wagging since they triumphed.
The opening day victory against last year’s losing finalist St Mary’s sent strong signal about their ability to cause an upset- and rightly so they lived up to that believe to snatch the title from holders Aggrey Memorial.
Many often try to quantify a player’s value with varying statistics, but that single award by itself tells us more than a printout of obscure arithmetic or out-of-context data.
The fans’ favourite player is more a recognition of the eye test than anything else.
Rachel Obeng passes the eye test. You don’t need to look at the stats to know how critical she is to her team’s success.
She is a hulking, hyper athletic behemoth of a lady whose dominance is undeniable. She was virtually a mismatch for any player who attempted to guard her from a typical standpoint.
Her weight and speed obliterate any concept of specific position, and she was a reflection of the recent trend of super-versatile players.
Rachel is a supreme floor general and elite scorer at her level. She is relied upon to distribute the ball just as much as she is upon to score and dominate individually.
“I put a lot of work into my game over the off-season and to come out here and see the results happen on the floor is the ultimate,” she said
“Aggrey pushed us to the limit. They are a class act, a class organization.
“The Sprite Ball Championship took everything we had. They are an unbelievable team and surely gave us a good run for our money.
“But we showed we’re a resilient team. We did whatever it took to win. Like I said from the beginning, everyday is not Christmas. Two championships in less than six months is an unbelievable feat.”
Indeed, this had been a rollercoaster of a finals that will go down as one of the greatest in the history of the competition.
There were moments that will feature in highlights reels for years to come – Rachel miracle game winning shot, Joana’s amazing block in the finals and a host of other skills that will dominate the major talking point in the country.
Both teams traded blows throughout the final contest and indeed deserved to be in the finals.
Both Amass and Aggrey Memorial looked the serious contenders right from the start of the competition and never looked back after their opening victories.
Rachel alongside female MVP Joana Danso, male MVP Sedem Tetevi, male fans’s player Kwaku of Opoku Ware School and winning coaches will travel to South Africa next month on a ground-breaking tour of the Amazulu land.
The 2014 Sprite Ball Championship once again made the headlines in Ghana and beyond and will continue to remain the biggest High School Basketball competition in the West African country.
