ICS Eagles Crowned Addis Ababa Basketball Champions

The Eagles boys’ varsity basketball team are city champions.

The ICS team was able to sustain success over the course of a weeks-long tournament against the top high school teams in Addis Ababa, culminating in a 23-21 road victory in the championship game at St. Joseph. The International Schools Association of Addis Ababa (ISSAAA) is a conference made up of six international schools in the city.

“I'm proud of our guys for winning the mental battle in a lively, unfamiliar environment and coming home with the ISSAAA Championship," Coach Matt Taylor said. "We observed considerable development of our players all season, committing to the process of improvement and learning what it takes to win. We made the most of our collective experiences this year, and I’m proud of them for an impressive team victory."

The Eagles team competed in a months-long season, which included several exhibition matches against local rivals both at home on the ICS campus and as visitors. Throughout the season, they had many ups and downs, including a come-from-behind victory against one of the top teams in the International Schools of Southern and Eastern Africa (ISSEA) championship tournament in Mozambique.

“Winning the championship felt so amazing. As a team coming back from some close losses during ISSEA this championship means a lot to us. It's so awesome to say that we are the Addis City champions,” Grade 9 student-athlete Owen S. said. “At the start of the season, we all were all great individual players but when we really started playing as a team, making the extra pass, taking the better shot, and playing better defense, we started to win and become a real team. After two back-to-back one-point losses during ISSEA, we could've just given up and not given it our all in this tournament, but our coaches Matt Taylor and Joshua Smalley kept reminding us that we need to focus and ‘leave no doubt.’”

“This season I learned to never give up and that nothing is ever going to be handed to you easily. You have to persevere and stay positive when some calls aren't going your way,” Owen said.

Congratulations once again to the team on their championship and to the girls’ varsity basketball team, who were runners up in the ISSAAA tournament.