Laiser Hill coach Erick Mutoro believes the Brookside 2025 Kenya Secondary School Sports Association (KSSSA) games is their opportunity to reclaim the national basketball title.

The Kajiado-based school cemented their quest of returning among the basketball giants with a narrow 85-83 victory against Dagoretti and will now face off against defending champions Dr Aggrey in the final on Saturday, April 12.

On their part, Dr Aggrey secured their berth in the finals after edging pre-tournament favourites Lukenya School 70-66 in a tightly contested semi-final clash.

Speaking on Friday, April 11, after the victory, Mutoro admitted to getting against the opponents from Nairobi.

“I’m speechless. Dagoretti gave us a run for our money. It was a tough game,” he said after the match.

Heading into the finals, Mutoro maintains that the defeat to Dr Aggrey in 2024 has not escaped his notice, and they will be out to avenge the heartbreaking loss.

Dr Aggrey downed archrival Laiser Hill 65-58 in Machakos to reach the finals of the 2024 games.

“They beat us in our last meeting. I have not forgotten; I have endured the loss for a year now. This final is our moment, and our time is now,” he said

The side will be wary of the threat posed by the Coastal side, who showed tremendous tenacity in the ongoing finals.

Robert Aran’s team opened up their campaign on a false start, losing 95 -71 to Dagoretti in the group match. They bounced back to edge Kamusinga 75-71 in the next match.

Laiser Hill finished third in the 2024 national games. The former giants dominated the basketball scenes around 2017 before fading into oblivion in the latter years.

They bounced back in 2022 but have only been coming close, yet they failed in their bid to reclaim the trophy.