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2012 Taumafai Basketball League Champions are Leone

The 2012 Taumafai Basketball League just concluded its inaugural season this past Saturday at the Tafuna High School gymnasium, where the league played all of its games.

Last Saturday saw the crowning of the league’s first champions, when the team of the #2 seeded Leone walked away with the first the ever trophy in the Taumafai Basketball League, defeating the #1 seeded Mesepa Sonics in a high flying, hard fought battle by a score of 48-32.

Leading Leone in the championship final was Shawn Salave’a, who was able to score a total of 18 points. Salave’a hit four 3 pointers, 2 inside the paint and 2 out of 3 free throws for a total of 18, while teammate Scotty Muliaga put in 12 points while dominating under the basket on the defensive end.

The Sonics Onosa’i So’ofara led his team with over half of its points for a total of 18, in a game that saw the Sonics come out of the blocks slow and was dominated in the first half and was down by 17 going into the 3rd period. After making a surge in the second half, the Sonics still could not stop Leone’s attack.

In the consolation game for 3rd and 4th places between the Ninjas and Pavai’ai Youth, the Ninjas size and power were just too much for Pavai’ai as the Ninjas started out strong and on top from the start of the game and walked away with the victory by a score of 60-44.

Between the two games, there was a three-point competition for youngsters 12 and under that saw close to 25 youth putting up the ball for prizes.

“I wish to thank everyone that helped out to make this league a success. All of the teams played well, hard and competitive, with great sportsmanship. The fans came out with a great attitude cheering for their teams on this championship day. Thank you to all of you who have been there since the start of the league. Thanks for the support,” said president of the Taumafai Basketball League, Valusia Talataina.

Here are some game highlights:

 

Here is the final placing for the top four teams and other league awards:

Champions:            Leone

Runners up:            Mesepa Sonics

3rd place:            Ninjas

4th place:            Pava’ai Youth

Tournament Most Valuable Player:             Shawn Salave’a (Team Leone)

League Most Valuable Player:             George Ioasa (Mesepa Sonics)

Coach of the Year:             Eli Jr. (Team IliIli)

Sportsmanship Award:             Kagifa Mariner

Perpetual Trophy:             Team Leone

Most Improved Team:             Mapusaga

Most 3 pointers:             Sabastian Mariner

Best Uniform:             Team Uso