JOHN Wesley Primary School's title defence started well when it edged Veiuto Primary School 27-21 in the under-14 girls' grade of the Twisties sponsored Suva Basketball Primary School competition at the Vodafone Arena yesterday.

It was a close tussle with the Raiwaqa-based school displaying a higher skill level.
Veiuto had the height but the JWPS players showed more skills acquired from playing in the Raiwaqa Kaji Basketball competition every weekend.

Basketball Fiji development officer Laisiasa Puamau was impressed with the young players.
"It was a good start to the competition. John Wesley played well and I'm really happy with the performance of the students so far. "John Wesley had players playing in the kaji competition in Raiwaqa. So they were good against the tall Veiuto girls who used their height well during the game," Puamau said.

Meanwhile, the four special schools have boosted the level of competition. Hilton Special School, Gospel School of the Deaf, Fiji Vocational and Suva Special School showed they had the potential to upset teams. "I'm really impressed with the way these special students play against the mainstream schools. I believe they need few more adjustments to understand more of the game," Puamau said.

He said they wanted primary school students to fully understand the game before they reached secondary school.

Results: U10 mixed JWC 22-VPS 12, LDS 2-IPS 44; U12 JWC 25-VPS 12 (boys), LDS 2-IPS 13 (girls); U14 Girls GSD 0-LDS 13 (boys); JWC 27 VPS 21 (girls); U14 Boys Suva Special School 2-Fiji Vocational School 2 (boys).

Picture:Fiji Vocational School's Levi Naiqaci, with ball, draws the attention of Suva Special School players during the Suva Basketball Primary Schools competition at the Vodafone Arena in Suva yesterday.

Source: The Fiji Times Newspaper
Saturday 26th March 2011