Despite beating Botswana 49- 27 yesterday, the Junior Queens lost out to win a gold match at the African Sports Council Region Five Youth Games.

Instead, they face Zimbabwe today in a bronze match.

Junior Queens celebrate in a previous match

When the two sides met last Tuesday, the Junior Queens beat Zimbabwe 42-37 at the Griffin Saenda Indoor Sports Complex in Lilongwe.

It was a narrow win and the Christina Mkwanda coached side need not underrate Zimbabwe today.

“We lost out on the final second slot because Zambia  has scored eight more baskets than us. The game against Zimbabwe is our realistic chances of a winning a medal and the girls know how important this game is,” she said.

Speaking after the victory over Botswana yesterday, Mkwanda said the girls played with maturity.

“Against Botswana it was a more mature performance. We managed to keep the ball and the distribution was timely and accurate. It was a good performance overall. We need to play like this against Zimbabwe. I believe we can do better if we keep the ball,” she said.

Assistant coach Beatrice Mpinganjira also applauded the team for putting up a fight to stay on course for a medal.

“We are happy for them. They just need to be focused to win the bronze match,” she said.

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