BENUE'S Queen of the Holy Rosary Secondary School and Niger's Government Secondary School became the first two teams to berth in the last four of the Central Conference final of this year's Milo Secondary School Basketball Championship.Also, Kano's Ahmadiyya College and Taraba's Government Girls Secondary School over the weekend secured their places in the Lagos grand finale after emerging champions at the Savannah Conference final.Yesterday, at the indoor hall of the Kwara Township Stadium, the Benue girls were unstoppable in their matches after overwhelming Plateau and Nasarawa in the group encounter to seal their spot in the semi-final. The coach Yende Terkimbi-led Gboko-based team defeated Nasarawa 53-9 and Plateau 52-3. Also, Minna boys defeated Kebbi 60-18 and Benue 25-22 to make the last four of the competition.Meanwhile, the co-ordinator of Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF) in Kwara State, Moshood Lasisi, said the federation has ensured that only bonafide students participate in the tournament. He noted: 'Our screenings are regular and we are working hard to ensure that we rid the tournament of mercenaries.'We have warned the teams to desist from using ineligible players and we will surely deal with any team caught doing this. Our joy is that most of the players in the national league and national teams are products of this championship and we will remain grateful to Nestle Nigeria Plc for keeping faith with the competition.Kamal Yusuf of Kano and Jamila Sulaiman of Taraba were the most valuable players of the Savannah Conference final held in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.MTN Lagos Street Soccer registration ends FridayREGISTRATION for the season five of MTN Lagos Street Soccer Championship will end on Friday, the organisers have announced.According to a statement by the Local Organising Committee (LOC), the closure became necessary to ensure that logistics for the kick-off of the championship were put in place.With the inclusion of the female and corporate events in this year's tourney, the deadline for the registration will take effect only for the male and female categories, while the corporate team registration continues.However, the seminars for the referees and match commissioners were concluded over the weekend with hundreds of participants involved. According to the LOC head of referees, Bashir Kosoko, over 186 participants took part in the referees' seminar, which had practical demonstration as well as short evaluation of the officials.He added that further training of the referees would continue this week to enhance better understanding of the interpretation and application of the laws of the game. For 22-year old Ikechukwu Wilson, the seminar has enhanced his knowledge of the game, especially with the new adjustment to the laws.'The seminar has improved my knowledge of the game because of the many amendments to the rules and regulations, compared to the previous years,' he said. 'I think this edition will be better, greater than the previous ones, as I am looking forward to seeing new set of referees that will help in promoting the referees' image.
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