23 January 2023
The Saint Charles College 1st basketball team finished 2022 with an unbeaten run of 25 games and laid claim to the title of South Africa’s best after winning two prestigious titles, the Stayers Tournament and Saint John’s College Tournament. The further the season progressed, the better they became.
So, it would have been with plenty of trepidation that Clifton College made the trip to Pietermaritzburg on Saturday, 21 January, to face Saints. Clifton had improved markedly in 2022 after a very trying 2021 season but, when pitted against Saint Charles in 2022, the result had gone very emphatically in favour of the Pietermaritzburg School in the second last game of the year. The following week, Saints had destroyed a good Michaelhouse team, doubling up their total in a 72-36 victory.
Dominant defence
The truth be told, it was pretty much one-way traffic again on Saturday in a sizzling Pietermaritzburg, where the stored heat in the basketball arena made for a taxing day for the players. Saints got off to a rip-roaring start and, as they tend to do, played dominant defence to shut down any sort of challenge from Clifton.
Saints’ goal, in each and every game, is to keep the opposition below 40 points, and they’re usually successful in that aim, which was, once again, achieved on the day.
A wholehearted effort
It resulted in a convincing 82-26 victory for a very well coached and focused outfit, but don’t for a moment think Clifton laid back and allowed Saints to race away with the win. No, the Durban boys put in a wholehearted effort, but it was simply not enough against the superbly drilled home team.
What stood out most was how effective Saint Charles was transitioning to the fast break, while Clifton was made to work extremely hard to advance the ball up the court, having to employ significantly more passes than Saints to make the same ground, but often being stopped on their way to the basket by the tigerish defence of the hosts.
If they remain focused and motivated (and there is little reason to think they won’t), it is difficult to imagine another team taking down the current Saint Charles College line-up in 2023.
SCORES
1st: Saint Charles College 83-26 Clifton College
2nd: Saint Charles College 33-9 Clifton College
3rd: Saint Charles College 11-26 Clifton College
4th: Saint Charles College 40-1 Clifton College
16A: Saint Charles College 26-15 Clifton College
16B: Saint Charles College 40-13 Clifton College
15A: Saint Charles College 47-14 Clifton College
15B: Saint Charles College 34-13 Clifton College
15C: Saint Charles College 40-6 Clifton College
14A: Saint Charles College 16-11 Clifton College
14B: Saint Charles College 22-0 Clifton College
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