St John’s Basketball: KZN teams in u15, u19 title hunt, results

24 February 2024

u19

St Charles College, Northwood School, and Michaelhouse all finished top of their groups after the completion of day two of the u19 competition at the St John’s Basketball Tournament in Johannesburg.

In Friday’s action, Saints, the defending champions, secured their spot atop Group A with a comfortable 62-39 win over Parktown Boys’ High.

Northwood School played twice and were pushed all the way by St Stithians College in their first game, winning only 54-53. Later in the day, though, the Knights crushed St Peter’s College 62-18.

Hilton College recorded their first win by beating St Peter’s 36-27. Then, facing St Stithians, who had so nearly derailed Northwood, Hilton pulled off a huge upset, claiming a 42-39 victory, to finish as runners-up to the Durban boys.

The unpredictable nature of the game was also evident in Group C, where St Alban’s College, who had beaten Maritzburg College by 21 points on day one, were handed a 27-33 loss by St David’s Marist Inanda. College had beaten the same side 52-30.

On Friday, the Red, Black and White cruised to a 59-26 win over Jeppe High, but it wasn’t enough to eclipse St Alban’s at the top of the group.

St Charles, with three solid victories, ruled Group A. (Photo: ActionPix)
St Charles, with three solid victories, ruled Group A. (Photo: ActionPix)

In an all-KZN clash, Michaelhouse were made to work hard by Clifton College, but they came through that clash 35-28 to seal top spot in Group D. Michael Mount beat Eswatini’s Waterford Kamhlaba to finish in second, with Clifton in third.

Kearsney College enjoyed a good day, running out clear winners in their two games, beating Sacred Heart College 47-31 and St George’s College 62-46. That very nearly secured them first place in Group E, but St Benedict’s College held off Sacred Heart by a single point to relegate Kearsney to second spot.

First place in Group F belonged to King Edward VII School, whose goal difference of plus-97 was the best of the round robin stages.

RESULTS

Group A

St Charles 62-39 Parktown
Pretoria Boys High 32-34 St John’s College

Group B

Northwood 54-53 St Stithians
St Peter’s 27-36 Hilton College
Hilton College 42-39 St Stithians
St Peter’s 18-62 Northwood

Group C

St Alban’s 27-33 St David’s Marist Inanda
Maritzburg College 59-26 Jeppe High

Group D

Michaelhouse 35-28 Clifton College
Waterford Kamhlaba 39-51 Michael Mount

Group E

Sacred Heart 31-47 Kearsney College
St Benedict’s 61-26 St George’s College
St George’s College 46-32 Kearsney College
Sacred Heart 40-41 St Benedict’s

Group F

Falcon College 45-44 St Andrew’s College
King Edward VII 56-38 ESCA Wanderers
Falcon College 26-75 King Edward VII
St Andrew’s College 22-60 ESCA Wanderers

U15

In the u15 competition, Kearsney College, Hilton College and Michaelhouse topped their groups.

It was tight in Group A, where Kearsney eked out a 40-39 win over a talented St John’s College outfit before seeing off Saheti 32-12.

Clifton College also won against Saheti, 37-32, while St John’s comfortably handled them later in the day, defeating the Durban school 37-15.

Clifton College take the ball to the basket in their convincing day two win over Saheti. (Photo: ActionPix)
Clifton College takes the ball to the basket in their convincing day two win over Saheti. (Photo: ActionPix)

Maritzburg College, edged out by a single point by Michael Mount on day one, bounced back with an easy 62-23 win over St Andrew’s College, which was followed by a 39-17 win over The King’s High School Linbro Park. Michael Mount beat the same opponents, by narrower margins, but that was enough to see them claim first place in Group B.

Northwood played two vastly different games. They went down 40-60 against St Stithians in their first outing, but then overran St Peter’s College 52-13. Unfortunately for Northwood, a big loss to Pretoria Boys High on Thursday left them third in the final Group C standings.

Hilton College booked their place at the summit of Group D with two wins to maintain their clean record. They held off the Soweto Basketball Academy 29-25 and then brushed aside Jeppe by a 42-15 margin.

Group E honours went to Michaelhouse, although it wasn’t with a clean record. They were involved in two squeakers on Friday, holding off St Alban’s College 15-14 in a low-scoring affair before losing 28-30 to St David’s Marist Inanda in another tight contest.

In Group F, St Charles College had to settle for second place behind St Benedict’s College. Bennies beat Saints 37-26 early in the day, but Saints then took down Redhill School 37-16 later on.

Hilton College completed the group stages with three wins from three games after seeing off Jeppe High. (Photo: ActionPix)
Hilton College completed the group stage with three wins from three games after seeing off Jeppe High. (Photo: ActionPix)

RESULTS

Group A

Clifton College 37-32 Saheti
St John’s College 39-40 Kearsney College
Kearsney College 32-12 Saheti
St John’s College 37-15 Clifton College

Group B

Michael Mount 38-26 King’s Linbro
Maritzburg College 62-23 St Andrew’s College
St Andrew’s College 29-43 Michael Mount
Maritzburg College 39-17 King’s Linbro

Group C

Northwood School 40-60 St Stithians
St Peter’s College 12-25 Pretoria Boys High
St Peter’s College 13-52 Northwood School
Pretoria Boys High 22-33 St Stithians

Group D

Jeppe High 19-31 King Edward VII
Hilton College 29-25 Soweto Academy
Jeppe High 15-42 Hilton College
Soweto Academy 37-32 King Edward VII

Group E

Sacred Heart College 26-23 St David’s Marist Inanda
St Alban’s College 14-15 Michaelhouse
St Alban’s College 29-12 Sacred Heart College
Michaelhouse 28-30 St David’s Marist Inanda

Group F

St Benedict’s College 37-26 St Charles College
Mangaung Knights 64-43 Redhill School
Mangaung Knights 27-43 St Benedict’s College
Redhill School 16-37 St Charles College

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