IT’s a twin win for the Solomon Islands women’s basketball team when they defeated BLK Fiji 63-58 during their FIBA Oceania under-19 Basketball Championship match at the Vodafone Arena yesterday.
Inspired by the two sets of twin sisters, Triza and Charleen Kere and Maya and Nerfertiti Van-Den-Heever, Solomon Islands stung the home team with their accurate shots and attacking style that kept Fiji at bay.
The match was so intense that it went into extra time, following Fiji’s strong comeback in the later stages of the second half.
The vocal supporters for Fiji and Solomon added intensity as both teams were locked 50-all at fulltime.
However, it was the pair of 17-year olds, Maya and Nerfertiti who inspired Solomon’s attack to finish the game in style. Raised up in the United States from the early age of six, the duo displayed excellent ball skills and accurate shooting rate that shocked Fiji.
“We’re just so happy to help our island team beat Fiji,” Maya said.
“They were aggressive and came hard at us, they have some great talents.”
Nerfertiti added they remained calm and focused which worked out well in the end.
“We do a lot of practise back in the US and I believe that paid off today,” she said when asked about their accurate shooting.
“We play basketball at high school and we hope to continue until we reach NBA basketball.”
Solomons lost to New Zealand in their opening pool on Monday but Maya said they had settled the nerves.
“Most of the girls in our team are playing basketball for the very first time. We played well against Fiji and hopefully we will continue this way in our upcoming matches,” she added.
The Van-Den-Heever sisters were born in Solomon before moving to the US when they were six-year-olds.
