The head coach of Ghana’s Under 16 National Basketball Team, Lawal Brimah has pinned the country’s failure to qualify to the 2023 FIBA Africa Championship on a short period of preparation for the qualifiers.
He said this after Ghana beat Nigeria 47- 45 in the final game of the Zone 3 Qualifiers held this past weekend at the Eden Heights Sports Complex.
Despite the win, Ghana couldn’t qualify to the continental championship due to be held in Tunisia in a fortnight after losing 65-68 in overtime to Cote D’Ivoire earlier in the competition.
Nigeria earlier beat Cote D’Ivoire 67-38, thus confirming its place in Tunisia via a superior goal difference after all three nations ended the tournament with a win and a loss.
For Ghana Coach Lawal Brimah, the disappointment is down to a short period to prepare for the tournament.
He said, “This is the first time we are hosting such a championship but unfortunately the time for our preparation was not enough. I think it took about one week to prepare for this championship. If we had even one month to prepare for this championship, I think things won’t be as they are now.
So given the time limit that we used to train for this championship, I really appreciate the boys because they have done a great job.”
In the Girls Division, Ghana lost out on a qualification spot to Nigeria after losing twice to the sub regional powerhouse including a 17-65 loss in the second game.
