Easy does it as St Anthony's, Alliance and Lukenya off to flying starts
Hockey
By
Elizabeth Mburugu
| Apr 08, 2026
Former national and East Africa boys’ hockey champions St Anthony’s Boys High School Kitale launched their title quest with a hard fought 1-0 win against their hosts Kisumu Day as the 2026 Brookside Secondary Schools National Term One Games began Tuesday in Kisumu.
As expected, sports enthusiasts turned up in large numbers to rally behind the homeboys, cheering them and applauding every meaningful move they made towards their visitors’ goal.
However, St Anthony’s, christened Les Titans, refused to be intimidated by the roars of home crowds, holding the nerve to score in the death and bag maximum points and enhance their chances of reclaiming the title they lost to Musingu High School in 2023.
St Anthony’s were, without doubt, the better side, creating numerous scoring chances.
Kisumu Day will have their goalkeeper, Albert Otieno, to thank for saving them from frequent attacks from the victory-hungry Les Titans strikers.
After countless failed attempts, promising star Kelvin Onyango, who is determined to sign off in style, finally got it right, netting the winner in the 53rd minute.
St Anthony’s coach Kelvin Lugalia was elated by the win, saying that based on their opening match, they expect a very tough competition. “The standards are very high and from our experience in the first game we will have to grind harder to secure points,” Lugalia said.
St Anthony’s will today clash with Alliance High School in their second Group A match, where a win will secure them a last-four slot.
Alliance, who returned to the nationals after many years in the cold, announced their comeback with a 2-0 win against debutants Mbooni Boys in the other Group A encounter.
Laban Yegon and Ellias Wafula were on target for Alliance.
In the girls’ Group A contest, Quincy Akinyi was on target as homegirls Ng’iya beat Mwiki Secondary School 1-0 to register their first win.
Mpesa Foundation Academy and AIC Nyayo played to a barren draw. Today, Ng’iya will tackle AIC Nyayo, while Mpesa face off with Mwiki in hunt for their first wins.
In basketball, it was a start defending champions Laiser Hill never wished for as they lost 66-78 to bitter rivals Dagoretti High in Group A.
It was sweet revenge for the Nairobi boys, who avenged last year’s semi-final defeat that locked them out of the final.
Fidel gift was on fire, knocking down 38 points to anchor Dagoretti to victory. Kuul Lul Nyuron top-scored for Laiser Hill with 13 points.
A good start in the first quarter and a dominant show in the second half ensured that Dagoretti carried the day.
Dagoretti settled in the match, first taking the first quarter 21-17.
Laiser Hill recovered to control the second quarter, taking it 22-18 for a level 39-39 score at half-time.
On resumption, Dagoretti High were unstoppable, scoring 21 points against Laiser Hill’s 14 for a seven-point lead going into the final period.
There was no looking back for the national regulars who, as they took the fourth quarter 18-12 registered their first win.
In the other tie, Lukenya Boys High School beat former national champions Dr Aggrey 62-42.
Dr Aggrey’s Deng Kuot watched in disbelief as his match-high 21 points went up in flames as they failed to contain Lukenya Stallions.
Laiser Hill and Dr Aggrey will be out to salvage their campaign today when they clash in their second pool match.