Top competition at the Schoolgirls’ Basketball Tournament

Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School staged the 31st GHS/Val Fowler Schoolgirls’ Invitational Basketball Tournament with a record entry of 32 teams. It brought together top players from the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and KwaZulu-Natal, in a festival of basketball which started, most appropriately on Women’s Day, 9^th August. 134 matches were played in an A and B section over three and a half days, at the GHS and Maritzburg College Indoor venues. The matches were officiated by top referees, including four International Referees, and streamed daily by SuperSport Schools.

The teams each played seven matches in the round robin section with the top two teams in each pool qualifying for the knockout rounds. The remaining teams played their final matches against their equally placed opponent from the opposite pool. This saw basketball at its best with a number of tightly contested encounters, going into extra time.

Playing action reached a peak in the semi-final matches. In the B section it was encouraging to see two local schools, Alexandra High and Maritzburg Christian School, challenge for the top positions, only to be denied a spot in the finals by eventual winner, Holy Rosary Convent, from Gauteng, and second placed Heritage, from Zimbabwe. The Alexandra High Team won Bronze.

There was a very different vibe in the A section. For once, club teams had been allowed to enter, and understandably being able to draw from more than one school they had a real competitive edge over the other teams. The Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School Team, with a record of 24 tournament wins in 30 years challenged for the top four positions in the A section but could not quite match the standard of the club teams. In their pool round robin match against Hotshots, from Cape Town, they lost in a nail-biting encounter, by a mere two points. As GHS was placed second in their pool their semi-final match was against the top team in the other pool, the Alexandra Academy Team from Gauteng. They put up a good fight but were outclassed. In the other semi-final, the Hotshots team, with an incredible height advantage outplayed the Soweto Team.  Hotshots then fought valiantly in the final, but they too were outclassed by the very balanced and talented Academy team. The local GHS team finished in a creditable 4^th position, the top school team in the tournament.

Final positions: A section – 1^st Alexandra Academy Team, 2^nd Hotshots, 3^rd Soweto Basketball Academy. Other local team placings include 7^th St Anne’s, 10^th PMB GHS 2^nd Team, 13^th St John’s, 14^th Howick High.

B section – 1^st Holy Rosary Convent, 2^nd The Heritage, 3^rd Alexandra High. Other local team placings include 4^th Maritzburg Christian School, 5^th Carter High, 8^th GHS U16, 10^th St John’s 2^nd Team, 12^th St Anne’s Invitational, 14^th St Nicholas.

Special awards: All Star Team voted by coaches after each match: L. Faurholm – Hotshots; K Murene – Heritage; S Shezi – PMB GHS; A Obiedelu – Holy Rosary; B Lefakane – Soweto.

Most Valuable Player in the Tournament Final: S Twala – Alexandra Academy Team

Tournament Most Valuable Player: A Onguegbunam – Alexandra Academy Team