25 February 2025
Northwood School lifted the prestigious St John’s Basketball Tournament title for a second year in succession on Sunday after beating the hosts, St John’s, 53-42 in the final, which the Knights controlled from the tip-off.
Coach Kent VanderYacht‘s charges imposed themselves on their opposition, going unbeaten throughout the event, which included beating Jeppe High School for Boys twice – 65-45 in the pool stage of the competition and 45-40 in the semi-finals.
The victory also demonstrated Northwood’s ability to lift their game when taking on the best, which affirmed their status as one of, if not the best, teams in South Africa. Number one is between the Knights and Westville Boys’ High, the winners of the Jenny Orchard Invitational, with games between the two schools all but impossible to call.
In their most recent meeting, at the beginning of February, Northwood won 71-64.
Two Knights were named in the Team of the Tournament, Simamukele Vacu, the tournament’s MVP, and Mitchell Igboegwe. The others were Yanda Peter, of St John’s College, Chris-Junior Okeke, of Jeppe, St Benedict’s College‘s Ikechukwu Ejike, and Nehemiah Nii-Artee, of Pretoria Boys High.
There was a big gap between Northwood and the next best KZN side, Hilton College, although, it should be mentioned that many of the other top KZN schools had committed to the Jenny Orchard Invitational. Hilton finished 10th after going down 33-43 to King Edward VII School (KES) in the ninth-place playoff.
St Charles College, the 2023 winners, would be disappointed with their showing. They ended 14th, while Maritzburg College, in 19th, sent their second-string to Johannesburg.
Hilton College’s u15s, finished as the runner-up, a year after they won the title. This time, it went the way of Maritzburg College, who scored a convincing 57-32 win in the final.
College’s Tinyiko Maseko was named the u15 MVP while his team-mate Nkazimulo Dlamini was included in the All-Star Team. Hilton’s Fynn Asamoah cracked the nod, too, and they were joined by Langalethu Shabalala, of KES, Nathan Platt, of The King’s School Linbro Park, and Mbusi Keta, of St Stithians College.
PLAYOFFS
23rd/24th – International School of South Africa 25-9 St Peter’s College
21st/22nd – St John’s College (Zim) 36-18 St Andrew’s College
19th/20th – Maritzburg College 19-9 Sacred Heart College
17th/18th – Falcon College (Zim) 22-23 S David’s Marist Inanda
15th/16th – American International School of Johannesburg 48-17 Alma Mater International School
13th/14th – St Charles College 28-43 St George’s College
11th/12th – Michael Mount 26-25 Parktown Boys’ High
9th/10th – King Edward VII 43-33 Hilton College
7th/8th – The King’s School Linbro 33-40 Park St Alban’s College
5th/6th – St Stithians College 24-25 St Benedict’s College
3rd/4th – Pretoria Boys High 31-26 Jeppe High School for Boys
1st/2nd – Northwood School 53-42 St John’s College
U15 Final Standings
1 Maritzburg College
2 Hilton College
3 The King’s School Linbro Park
4 King Edward VII School
5 St Stithians College
6 Kearsney College
7 St John’s College
8 Jeppe High School for Boys
9 St David’s Marist Inanda
10 Michael Mount Waldorf
11 St Benedict’s College
12 Mangaung Knights
13 Soweto Basketball Academy
14 Northwood School
15 Sacred Heart College
16 Pretoria Boys High
17 Saheti School
18 St Andrew’s College
19 St Alban’s College
20 St Charles College
21 Redhill School
22 St John’s College Invitational
23 Clifton College
24 St Peter’s College
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