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HBA Super Six Gameweek 11 Review: Leopards Academy wallop UZ Stars, Blades Receive Baptism of Fire

KINGSTONE ZIMUNYA 

The entertainment in the HBA Super Six League is heating up, with weekly surprises on and off the court. 

ALSO READ: Going Gets Tough? JBC Women Quits HBA Super Six League, Replaced By Blades

Gameweek 11 came with a newcomer, a 1-point upset and as usual—some brilliant basketball action.

After Gameweek 11, played at Sunrise Sports Club in Belvedere on Saturday the 26th, the log leaders for both the Men’s and Women’s Division maintained their grip at the top of the standings. There was, however, a new name on the Women’s log, and a new cellar dweller on the Men’s log. 

Gameweek 11 Wrap: Super Six Men’s

In the first game of Gameweek 11, Leopards Academy thumped easy-beats UZ Stars 61-30, a great recovery from their loss to JBC in Gameweek 10.


HBA Super Six Leopards Academy
Leopards Academy logo


The thirty-point win could have been mistaken for a training session, as the entire Leopards bench managed to put some points past UZ Stars. Shoniwa Ushe delivered the most outstanding statline of the day, 11-11-1, to record his first double-double of 2024. Simbarashe Chitsungwe and Tatenda Matuture scored 10 points each.

Mbare Bulls continued on their resurgence to edge Basket Hounds 60-53. This time, it was Pote who managed the highest points of the day, with 13 points. Warren Tegama and Chidzomba maintained their double-digit run, scoring 12 points and and 11 points respectively. Zamani put up 11 points and played 38 minutes. 


HBA Super Six Mbare Bulls
Good form—Mbare Bulls make it two in a row


There was drama in the final game of the day as third placed Arcadia Bucs triumphed over log leaders JBC by one point. After taking an 18-11 lead in the first quarter, Bucs hung on until the buzzer to master a 51-50 upset over JBC. Agripa Masvisvi put up 19-5-1 to take home the highest points of the day.

ALSO READ: HBA Super Six Gameweek 10 Review: Mbare Bulls Bounce Back; UZ Sparks, Vixens continue winning ways

Despite the loss, JBC maintained their two-point lead at the top of the standings with 19 points, followed by Basket Hounds with 17 points. Leopards Academy and Arcadia Bucs are tied at 16 points, only separated by Leopards’ higher Avrg (A.B). 

Mbare Bulls’ two on the trot helped them leapfrog UZ Stars onto fifth position. They are now tied at 13 points with UZ Stars, who have not won a single game all season. 

Gameweek 11 Wrap: Super Six Women’s

Bunnies’ 16 point scoring run in the first quarter was key in delivering a 61-40 victory over bottom-table Harare City Hornets. The side looked rejuvenated following their loss to Vixens in Gameweek 10, leading the game for 39 minutes. Mutengo scored 19 points. 

Coming from dominating the Harare A League, Blades got the classic newbie treatment by way of a 54-22 trashing from log leaders UZ Sparks. Tadiwa Mabika managed 13 points and 8 rebounds, whilst Verengai played 28 minutes to deliver 12 points. Chikowore went home with 11 points. UZ Sparks remains unbeaten this season.

HBA Super Six UZ Sparks
Invincibles — UZ Sparks remain undefeated this season


Speaking to ZimSphere Sports after the game, UZ Sparks coach Tongai Munaku had this to say;

“Despite the fact that it was an impromptu change of fixture, I think the girls showed up and managed to harness a convincing win. Blades came highly rated, they just got promoted from the A League because of their dominance in that league. 

"The game was quite good, we enjoyed the game.”

In the low-scoring game of the day, Vixens defeated Fillies 37-25. Cynthia Mukwesha put up 10 points, while Zvinisai of Fillies managed 16 points, despite the defeat. 

The Women’s Log remained unchanged, except for Blades’ replacement of JBC. UZ Sparks are on top with 22 points, followed by Vixens with 19 points. Newbies Blades and Fillies are tied at 15 points. Bunnies and Harare City Hornets complete the standings with 13 and 10 points respectively.


Gameweek 12 Preview

Gameweek 12 will be played at the home of Harare basketball, Sunrise Sports Club this Saturday. Games start at 1000.

In the first game of the day, newcomers Blades take on Fillies. This is surely to be an entertaining game as the two tied teams will be looking to separate each other. 

Fifth placed Bunnies take on undefeated UZ Sparks at 1200, while Harare City Hornets and Vixens wrap up the Women’s Division fixtures of the day. 

Bottom placed UZ Stars taken on Basket Hounds in the first Men’s Division game of the day. 

Leopards Academy and Arcadia Bucs are up against each other in a winner-takes-all showdown.

In the final game of the day, leaders JBC are up against Mbare Bulls. 

This promises to be a contested game, as JBC are trying to bounce back to winning ways, while Mbare Bulls are keen to continue on their good run of form. 



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