18 February 2024
After Northwood School defeated Maritzburg College in their Pool D opener, it was suggested that those teams might still meet in the final of the Jenny Orchard Invitational Basketball Tournament. It turns out, that suggestion was correct.
It nearly didn’t happen, however, as St Charles College came awfully close to scuppering Maritzburg College’s shot at winning the tournament named after the school’s former Director of Basketball.
Saints and College met in the semi-finals on Saturday after St Charles outlasted a game Michaelhouse 73-64 in the quarterfinals, and College outplayed Kearsney 74-49.
There was not much to separate the two Pietermaritzburg schools in their semi-final showdown, with the Red, Black and White eventually grinding out a tight 68-66 victory in their Alan Paton Hall.
In the other quarterfinals, St David’s Marist Inanda beat St John’s College 64-58 in an all-Johannesburg clash, while Northwood cruised to a 73-53 win over the Soweto Basketball Academy.
The Knights have been in imperious form throughout the tournament and will be favoured in Sunday’s final after scoring an impressive 12-point win over Maritzburg College on Thursday.
College, though, has the athleticism to make it a tough outing for Northwood. They’ll need to shoot a bit better than they did in their loss in their opening match, and they’ll need to be a bit better rebounding, too, in their second crack at the Knights. If College gets that right, then all bets are off.
SACS were involved in two of Saturday’s most interesting battles, holding on to beat Hilton College 60-54 in the morning, after the KZN side had fought their way back to 43-45 after trailing 9-29 at one point. SACS then went down by only four points to Durban High School (DHS) in their second game.
They will, at least, return home as the highest finishers among the four Cape Town schools – SACS, Rondebosch, Bishops and Wynberg – and will play for 11th place on Sunday against Westville Boys’ High.
The B Division final will feature Wynberg Boys’ High, who take on Maritzburg College B in the curtain-raiser for the A Division title-decider.
If you cannot make it to Maritzburg College, you can catch all the action online.
Follow the Jenny Orchard Invitational action live on SuperSport Schools
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RESULTS
A Division
9th – 16th
DHS 66-48 Rondebosch Boys’ High
Hilton College 54-60 SACS
Clifton College 56-57 Westville Boys’ High
ESCA Wanderers 61-39 Bishops Diocesan College
Quarterfinals
St David’s Marist Inanda 64-58 St John’s College
Northwood School 73-53 Soweto Basketball Academy
St Charles College 73-64 Michaelhouse
Kearsney College 49-74 Maritzburg College
13th – 16th
Clifton College 69-36 Bishops Diocesan College
Rondebosch Boys’ High 59-64 Hilton College
9th – 12th
DHS 69-65 SACS
Westville Boys’ High 38-55 ESCA Wanderers
5th – 8th
St John’s College 62-71 Soweto Basketball Academy
Michaelhouse 60-67 KEarsney College
Semi-finals
Maritzburg College 68-66 St Charles College 66
Northwood 65-51 St David’s Marist Inanda
SUNDAY FIXTURES
Alan Paton Hall 1
08:00 – DHS vs ESCA, 9th/10th
09:30 – Soweto Basketball Academy vs Kearsney College 5th/6th
11:00 – Maritzburg College B vs Wynberg Boys’ High, B Division Final
12:30 – Northwood School vs Maritzburg College, Final
Alan Paton Hall 2
08:00 – SACS vs Westville Boys’ High, 11th/12th
09:30 – St John’s College vs Michaelhouse, 7th/8th
11:00 – St David’s Marist Inanda vs St Charles College 3rd/4th
Results
B Division
Pool A
UFS 38-27 Treverton College
Queen’s College 48-47 St Benedict’s School
Pool B
Alexandra High 44-58 Jenny Orchard Invitational
Enjabulweni 42-46 Wynberg Boys’ High
Cross-pool playoffs
Maritzburg College B 74-39 Jenny Orchard Invitational (A1 vs B4)
Enjabulweni 32-31 Queen’s College (B2 vs A3)
UFS 47-57 Maru-a-Pula (B3 vs A2)
Wynberg Boys’ High 57-19 St Benedict’s Schools (B1 vs A4)
5th – 8th
Jenny Orchard Invitational 45-30 Queen’s College
UFS 68-50 St Benedict’s School
Semi-finals
Maritzburg College B 67-55 Enjabulweni
Maru-a-Pula 45-64 Wynberg Boys’ High
SUNDAY FIXTURES
GHS 1
08:00 Treverton College vs Alexandra High, 9th/10th
09:30 Enjabulweni vs Maru-a-Pula, 3rd/4th
11:00 Hilton vs Clifton, 13th/14th, Division A
GHS 2
08:00 Queen’s College vs St Benedict’s School, 7th/8th
09:30 Jenny Orchard Invitational vs UFS, 5th/6th
11:00 Rondebosch Boys’ High vs Bishops Diocesan College, 15th/16th, Division A
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