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| Osofo in cape Coast Hoops days |
Yesterday's win against Holy Family could probably be his last game in the Accra league. Late yesternight, Police forward Fred Yeboah (Osofo) dropped a status on his facebook that went like....
''Guys, today I announce my retirement from the Accra Basketball League,it's been great playing with all the players I came across...Just returning to full time in Ministry''.
The Accra league vet who has played for the now defunct Tudu Wizards and Hoops, Yotives and the University of Education, Winneba(as a student) was a pivotal member of every team he has been on. His peculiar skill set, leadership, passion and understanding of the game earned him a lot playing time while playing for Cape Coast Hoops in the past two seasons.
On April 13th, he grabbed a league high 21 rebounds against Warriors until Kwame Boamah shattered the record with his 30 a couple of weeks later. His stat line currently reads:
In a short phone chat with him, he pointed out the need to pay more attention to his ministry at his church, some problems with a few of his current teammates during games and the lack of remuneration from the team and the league as the main issues that influenced his decision. ''The stress of having to go through practice five times a week plus all the other responsibilities I have plus not getting enough time on court... I had to make a choice'', he added.
Game Day Recap; 06/04
Another French recipe from Police...
Women... CEPS 49, Police 55
No Georgina, no Becky, but Police got Emmanuela. Police reiterated their dominance of CEPS ladies by winning this much anticipated re-match of the finals that never "ended". Police made their thoughts clear once again; "we are not loosing to CEPS"seems like the plan their coaches had in their playbook as they beat CEPS for the second straight season. CEPS came into the game with a clear plan, pass the ball more, get open and get higher percentage shots. They did a good job at it especially in the first quarter as they started the game with a 10-2 run which was reduced to 14-10 by the end of the 1st. Polce stayed with their everyday game, get the ball to their "bigs" (Rahi and Esi) and let them get to work while their guards kept the CEPS defense honest with their shooting from downtown. Enter Emmanuela, another French speaking acquisition of the Police women's team. She got game! Picture a 5'9'', 5'10'' southpaw chic with a man's game; decent defense, jab step to the right, then quick dribble through the CEPS defense for the lay up. But then CEPS wasn't an easy foe,led by Belinda Tawiah(undersized but did a wonderful job defending Police' "bigs") they fought and kept the game alive to the end even though they looked beat from half way through the second quarter. Can't wait for the rematch of this game later in the year... 
D1... CEPS 70, Magic 50
Not as boring as I thought it would have been, after watching these two teams play in last year's Thome Cabalan preliminary stages. A "Brimah-less" but "Douggy-ful"(back from suspension after 10 months) CEPS team looked like they were running a clinic on how to get Dodzie open for the jumper as they set multiple picks for him to do the baseline cut and take the trey. With Magic coach, Wilson still serving his suspension, the Magic were left to survive the game on their own. This game saw Magic's starting front court play a lot of minutes and they proved their worth to the team. They worked hard on the boards but still need some tweaking to make them the team's bedrock.
Game Day Recap; 23/3
...attempting to hit, is hitting.
Women... Turbo Jets 38, Magic 42
This same game started the W last season, but with a few changes made to both teams this time around. Magic ladies was the better side again, while the Jets showed improvement as the game was not very much one sided like last year's. Very good additions to the Magic team; Aisha, Gwynne and Korro have brought a fair amount of size and understanding of the game to the already good team. So call them better! Anybody watching the game should have obviously noticed the number of "coaches"(persons shouting out instructions) that Magic had. Too much yelling for a team that's not so bad, maybe they should talk to the Jets' coaches to get some info on how to stay composed during games, the man was still cool even when his side was drifting. And then I was very disappionted in the man who was actually on the Magic bench as the coach, Francis Wilson(Soweto). His behaviour towards his own players and the refs(which resulted in him being ejected) was just out of range and highly unnecessary.
D1... Reformers 68, Police 77
Reformers won this match up last year at the same venue(on their home court)58 - 48. Police won this time. Why? Police stayed on the court and got better while I don't know what they(Reformers) did. Very exciting game if you ask me and my panelists( you know yourselves). Kay's one handed put back dunk on the Reformers defense was the most exciting play of the game, but forget fancy plays. Police impressed me a lot with a couple of new plays they introduced in their offense, even though the plays had their own technical flaws, I was just excited that another team has embraced the need to run plays and not just allow the offense to happen like in a pick up game. Emeric and Dickson did the do for Police when needed most. For me, Agbesi was the only bright spot in the Reformers team; dishing out his dimes as usual and knocking down a couple of deep 3's. The team needs a serious revival if they still want to stay among the elite in the L. Can't forget the "attempting to hit, is hitting" on ref Frank by Police forward, Prince. Not an incident we'll like to see occur frequently on our courts but I think some of the refs should get their acts right, sometimes the flaws committed are little bit disheartening for the players to absorb without reacting. That in no way guarantees players to also react unnecessarily after calls. 
