The Nabisunsa basketball club were slated to face the JT Lady Jaguars tonight in the National Basket League (NBL) at the YMCA in Wandegeya.
But being a secondary school team, Nabisunsa are heading to Tororo for the 3 on 3 schools basketball championship. The NBL game will be played at a later date. However, being a school team, the general thinking is that Nabisunsa punches above its weight, taking on teams that have older players.
At the end of every year, they lose their best players to the other teams, primarily because when students finish their O-Levels and A-Levels, and leave Nabisunsa, they start all over again.
Ordinarily, this makes their odds of maintaining their status in the NBL quite slim. For example, after the 2024 season, they lost a big chunk of their stars, who at the time were led by power-forward, Sarah Namale. Namale is now at the Uganda Christian University in Mukono.
Yet, despite that, through guard Abigail Mpoza, who will be doing her final O-Level exams starting in October, Nabisunsa Secondary School are more or less assured of playing in the NBL even next season.
So far, Sunsas, as they famously refer to themselves, have managed four wins in 18 games this season. This should suffice to keep them in the division, even though most people had written them off at the beginning of the season.
“We are used to that,” Mpoza said recently, after they beat Nkumba University Lady Marines in the league. She added that while the reason they are written off almost every time is hinged on the fact that they are viewed as small girls who are young; people forget the spirit and big hearts they carry.
Without a doubt, Mpoza, who is in her third season playing in the NBL, possesses a big heart, seeing how she has inspired her teammates. Just recently, in a game against the KCCA Leopards, who are second in the women’s top-flight, Mpoza, who is 17 years of age, scored a game-high 20 points.
While this turned out to be a losing effort, 62-64, Mpoza was up against national team players, many of whom have even graduated from university. This is simply proof of how talented Mpoza, who can either play as a point-guard or shooting guard is.
She is a mainstay in her team, averaging 32 minutes of 40, that a normal game is played for. It is rare that her coach Nelson Onyuta will keep her long on the bench because of her scoring, that averages 20 points per game. Mpoza is that lethal.
In fact, she has proven to have even scored more than her seniors, who are on the Gazelles team, preparing for the Women’s Afro-basket later this month. For example, the league’s current best players, Hope Akello (JKL) and Tracy Namugosa (KCCA) have averaged 15.9 points, while Perus Nyamwenge (KCCA), normally a heavy scorer, has recorded an average of 12.1 points.
Onyuta said: “Mpoza is definitely a talent, with a high basketball IQ. She thinks for the team, and almost every time she in on the court, if she does not score, she will make that important pass for us to unlock an opponent’s defence. Yet, I still think that she still needs to work on her defence. If she improves there, she will be top, as she already promises to.”
Last year, Mpoza was part of the under-18 Gazelles team that played in the African championship in South Africa, reaching the semi-finals. Just as she has been doing it in the league, she proved what a fine shooter of the three-point shots she is. But all this has been driven by the fact that she wants to improve and be a better player.
“After many of our teammates left last year, I knew I had to step up to help the team,” Mpoza said.
And girl has she stepped up to be one of the league’s best players, possibly punching above her weight, which has helped Nabisunsa’s chances of staying in the NBL.