PRETORIA (South Africa)- The last four places in the 2024 FIBA U18 Women's AfroBasket were decided on Thursday 12 September with Zambia and Morocco picking wins.
Here's how the action unfolded:
Zambia pick first win to finish eleventh
The Southern Africa derby pitting Zambia against Zimbabwe ended with the former picking a 50-45 win in a closely-fought encounter to rank 11th in the 12-team competition.
Cholwe Simubali, who has been Zambia's star in their run, led the side with a double-double of 15 points and 20 rebounds, adding 6 blocks for a game-high 35 in efficiency.
Katongo Chabela, who finished the match with 10 points, got Zambia underway as they led 4-0 and 6-2 early on. Zimbabwe leveled the score at 6 and briefly led 8-6 before Zambia recovered to lead 10-08 at the end of the quarter.
Mulenga Mumba's Zambia continued their onslaught in the second quarter, leading 20-9 halfway through the period but their 11-point cushion was reduced to just 4 at the end of the at 26-22, setting the stage for an exciting second half.
On resumption Zambia could barely contain Zimbabwe, albeit the low-scoring nature of the clash, and a 12-11 quarter meant they led by just 5 with 10 minutes left to fight.
Chiamaka Chideu scored back-to-back layups to bring Zimbabwe to within a point of Zambia at 38-37 and set was again involved, providing the assist for Shamiso Makombe's jumper that leveled the score at 40 with 5:10 min left to play.
Simubali and Shella Mbulo orchestrated Zambia's recovery as they managed to put a gap between themselves and Zimbabwe for their first win.
Eiza Louveton's rare triple-double powers Morocco to finish ninth
Eiza Louveton has been dominant for Morocco and in their final match of the U18 Women's AfroBasket, she sure brought her A-game, bagging a rare triple-double to help the North Africans win 84-47 against South Africa.
Both making their debut, Morocco had a better start to the competition, winning their opening match 75-56 against Zambia but fell to Angola and Mali to miss out on a Quarter Finals slot.
The hosts, meanwhile, lost all their Group Phase matches but won 46-43 against Zambia in the first 9-12 classification match.
Morocco left no questions as to who would win the clash with a 31-04 first quarter, following it up with a 21-10 second quarter show for a 38-point advantage heading to the locker rooms.
South Africa played their best basketball in the second half, taking the quarter 17-12, an impact barely felt as they still had a 64-31 mountain to climb in the final quarter. Morocco took the final quarter 20-16 to end their campaign with victory.
Chaima El Hakmi joined Louveton in leading Morocco's offense, dropping 19 points while Ines Boulboul and Alae Belghiti-Elalao added 12 and 10 respectively.
Amarachi Cynthia and Leah Faurholm led South Africa's charge, the former with a double-double of 16 points and 24 rebounds while Faurholm added 11.
FIBA