28 February 2023
Results and comments on the KZN schools who participated in the Saint John’s Basketball Tournament (alphabetical order)
Clifton School
The Clifton 1st team, while not setting the world on fire, was competitive in every outing. Compared to 2022, this team has made major strides, which is very encouraging.
The under-15 side ran into some tough opposition early on, with Durban North rivals’ Northwood really taking it to Clifton. Nonetheless, in the playoffs, they found their form and finished the event on a high with a narrow win over Saheti.
Clifton 1st team
Clifton School 26-47 Saint David’s Marist Inanda
Clifton School 35-47 Saint Charles College
Clifton School 27-44 Saint Stithian’s College
Clifton School 43-37 Saint Peter’s College
Clifton School 21-28 Michael Mount Waldorf School
Clifton School 27-18 Saint Andrew’s College (finished 15th overall)
Clifton u15
Clifton School 11-59 Northwood School
Clifton School 9-22 Jeppe High School for Boys
Clifton School 20-53 Saint Benedict’s College
Clifton School 27-56 Soweto Invitational
Clifton School 22-25 Saint Andrew’s College
Clifton School 17-16 Saheti School (finished 19th overall)
Kearsney College
The Kearsney College 1st team has been in good form recently. They pushed Saint Charles College right until the end before falling to Saints in the semi-finals of the Jenny Orchard Invitational. Unfortunately for Kearsney, they ran into a laser-focused Saint Charles in the semis in Johannesburg, too, and were unable to challenge them as much as they had in their previous meeting. After that, they suffered a let-down performance in their last outing, but it should not detract from some outstanding results.
Kearsney’s 1st team also drew widespread admiration for their attitude and they received the under-19 Spirit Award, voted on by the tournament’s technical officials. Njabulo Ngcobo was, in addition, named in the under-19 All Star Team.
The tournament was an up-and-down affair for the under-15 side, with each win being followed by a loss, thus their final position was a middling tenth.
Kearsney 1st team
Kearsney College 41-45 Saint John’s College
Kearsney College 42-28 ESCA Wanderers
Kearsney College 49-15 Saint Andrew’s College
Kearsney College 35-26 Pretoria Boys’ High
Kearsney College 50-43 King Edward VII
Kearsney College 39-57 Saint Charles College (semi)
Kearsney College 31-61 Saint Benedict’s College (finished fourth overall)
Kearsney u15
Kearsney College 48-44 Saint Charles College
Kearsney College 23-40 King Edward VII
Kearsney College 35-20 Pretoria Boys’ High
Kearsney College 42-59 Michael Mount Waldorf School
Kearsney College 40-36 Saint David’s Marist Inanda
Kearsney College 23-29 Kings School Linbro (finished 10th overall)
Maritzburg College
The Maritzburg College under-15 team performed well in Johannesburg and gave a very good Northwood team a tough fight in the quarterfinals. They followed that up with a treasured win over Michaelhouse. A win over Saint Benedict’s in their last game left College in an impressive fifth place overall.
The cherry on the top for the school was the inclusion of Carl Fynn in the under-15 All Star Team.
Maritzburg College u15
Maritzburg College 36-25 Saint Peter’s College
Maritzburg College 18-10 Saint Andrew’s College
Maritzburg College 22-15 Kings School Linbro
Maritzburg College 26-38 Saint John’s College
Maritzburg College 30-36 Northwood School (quarters)
Maritzburg College 33-30 Michaelhouse
Maritzburg College 22-15 Saint Benedict’s College (finished fifth overall)
Michaelhouse
After winning the Jenny Orchard Invitational Basketball Tournament, Michaelhouse would, surely, have felt a little deflated by their results at the Saint John’s Tournament. There was the blow of a narrow two-point loss in their first game against Saint Benedict’s, and that was then followed by a loss to Northwood, followed by another two-point defeat. That made it challenging to recover from there.
The Michaelhouse under-15 team enjoyed a good tournament, but were, unfortunately for ‘House, on the wrong end of narrow defeats to Saint Stithian’s (one point), Maritzburg College (three points), and King Edward VII (one point). Still, eighth overall was a decent showing.
Michaelhouse 1st team
Michaelhouse 1st 52-54 Saint Benedict’s College
Michaelhouse 1st 23-37 Northwood School
Michaelhouse 1st 30-32 Parktown Boys’ High
Michaelhouse 1st 44-56 King Edward VII
Michaelhouse 1st 42-34 ESCA
Michaelhouse 1st 41-21 Saint Peter’s College (finished 17th overall)
Michaelhouse u15
Michaelhouse 32-18 Saint David’s Marist Inanda
Michaelhouse 21-22 Saint Stithian’s College
Michaelhouse 45-36 Sacred Heart College
Michaelhouse 34-27 Saheti School
Michaelhouse 17-31 Michael Mount Waldorf School
Michaelhouse 30-33 Maritzburg College (quarters)
Michaelhouse 23-24 King Edward VII (finished 8th overall)
Northwood School
The Northwood 1st team is an interesting side. They’re capable of making life difficult for any opposition. Sometimes, though, they’re a little up-and-down. However, they are always a challenging match-up. Their results reflected dominance at times, and a couple of losses in games that they might have won on another day, such was the minimal difference between the teams.
The school’s under-15 side excelled with an exceptional showing. They finished fourth overall, but they were very close to going all the way. Their semi-final loss to Michael Mount Waldorf School, one of only two defeats they suffered, was by five points, while their loss to Saint Stithian’s, in the bronze medal playoff, was by just two points.
Simamukele Vacu shone and was named in the under-15 All Star Team afterwards.
Northwood 1st team
Northwood School 52-61 King Edward VII
Northwood School 37-23 Michaelhouse
Northwood School 32-40 Saint Benedict’s College
Northwood School 40-16 Parktown Boys’ High
Northwood School 40-36 Pretoria Boys’ High
Northwood School 22-9 Saint Stithian’s College (finished ninth overall)
Northwood u15
Northwood School 57-33 Soweto Academy
Northwood School 59-11 Clifton School
Northwood School 33-12 Jeppe High School for Boys
Northwood School 50-27 Saint Benedict’s College
Northwood School 36-30 Maritzburg College
Northwood School 36-41 Michael Mount Waldorf (semi)
Northwood School 60-62 Saint Stithian’s College (finished fourth overall)
Saint Charles College
When they hit their straps, it’s difficult to imagine any team hanging with the Saint Charles 1st team. They’re a defensive nightmare for opponents, exerting extreme pressure and playing with an iron-clad structure. They’re quick and accurate on the fast-break and, thus, able to accumulate many easy points.
A loss to Saint David’s Marist Inanda in the pool stages might have been a blessing in disguise for Saints, because, after that they blew their opposition off the court, winning by 24, 22 and 17 points to set up a rematch with Saint David’s for the title. The second time around, Saint Charles were ready for the Johannesburg school and captured the honours after a hard-fought game by a 40-36 margin.
Making that victory all the sweeter was the naming of Storm Gilchrist as the Tournament MVP.
The Saints’ under-15 team found the going far more challenging, drawing some of the top teams in the event in their pool games. Importantly, though, they finished strongly and will come away from the tournament encouraged by that finish.
Saint Charles 1st team
Saint Charles College 49-18 Saint Peter’s College
Saint Charles College 47-35 Clifton School
Saint Charles College 23-34 Saint David’s Marist Inanda
Saint Charles College 63-39 Saint Stithian’s College
Saint Charles College 59-37 Sacred Heart College
Saint Charles College 53-39 Kearsney College (semi)
Saint Charles College 40-36 Saint David’s Marist Inanda (champions)
Saint Charles u15
Saint Charles College 34-66 Michael Mount Waldorf School
Saint Charles College 44-48 Kearsney College
Saint Charles College 16-23 Pretoria Boys’ High School
Saint Charles College 38-58 King Edward VII
Saint Charles College 33-27 Saheti School
Saint Charles College 26-28 Saint Andrew’s College (finished 18th overall)
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