Reclaiming their title, Khombindlela High School shone at the KZN North Coast Regional of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Fast 5’s Netball Challenge that was hosted by Empangeni High School on Saturday 2 August.

The victorious team from Empangeni took on Tholokuhle High School from Nseleni in the regional final, with the result ending on 17 points in favour of Khombindlela, with Tholokuhle netting in 10 points. Both teams vying for the title have hoisted the trophy once before. Tholokuhle in the inaugural tournament in 2019 and Khombindlela taking the honours in 2023.

Tholokuhle took the first centre pass, launching their first attack but a determined defence from Khombindlela intercepted the ball and opened their account after two and a half minutes. Less than 30 seconds later, Tholokuhle levelled the score on the other end. The team in red only managed another two more bursts through the Khombindlela defenders edging their half time score up to 4, while the dominating team had a 3 point breather, going into half time with 7 points.

After the midgame pep talk, Tholokuhle showed signs of sparking, but their flair was snubbed but by a confident back line. Khombindlela’s Goal Attack, Siphokazi Mchunu was on fire in at the top end of the court, sinking all but 3 points for her team. The hard working player was a tour-de-force at the front, showing off skills on the ground and with pinpoint accuracy shooting in the circle. She earned her team 14 points, including an impressive 2 pointer in the first half.

Khombindlela High School claimed the trophy in the regional final of the KZN North Coast Regional at the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Fast 5’s Netball Challenge that was hosted at Empangeni High School on Saturday 2 August.
Photo: Rogan Ward

Tholokuhle used all of their tricks, including some quirky groundballs that flummoxed various opponenents, but a savvy Khomindlela were wise to these plays and managed to disrupt their attacks with some epic turnover plays, sending the ball quickly to their front line who wasted no time in slotting in their opportunities. Tholokuhle found space only five times in their opponents circle, and found the middle of the net three of those times. Two of these flighted attacks were an impressive 2 pointer 47 seconds into the second half, and a magical 3 pointer that floated in after 6 and a half minutes.

Tholokuhle, who had a tremendously successful day leading up to the final, topping their pool and managing to defeat Eshowe High School in their semi-final. At half time in the semi final, Eshowe were actually ahead by 2 points, but an invigorated Tholokuhle came out charging winning by a narrow victory of 1 point. Eshowe finished on 13 points while Tholokuhle advanced to the final with 14 points.

In the second semi-final, Khombindlela met their second team which resulted in an 8 point victory for them. Midway through the semi, the second team was a mere 1 point behind their first team, but in the second half, the main team advanced by 10 points while the B team upped their account by 3 points. The final score there was 17 points to the first team and 9 points to the second team.

The next tournament heads to Southcity Christian School where Kingsway High School will be defending their KZN South Coast Regional title. All games will be livestreamed by SuperSport Schools. For more info, follow the tournament on various social media platforms.

Results

Final
Khombindlela High School 1^st 17 vs Tholokuhle High School 10

Semi-Finals

Eshowe High School 13 vs Tholokuhle High School 14

Khombindlela High School 1^st 17 vs Khombindlela High School 2^nd 9

Pool A

1 Khombindlela High School 1^st 15pts; 2 Eshowe High School 12pts; 3 Aquadene Secondary School 1^st 9pts; 4 Empangeni High School 6pts; 5 Felixton College 3pts; 6 Nkombose High School 0pts

Pool B

1 Tholokuhle High School 15pts; 2 Khombindlela High School 12pts; 3 Aquadene Secondary School 2^nd 9pts; 4 Grantleigh School 3pts; 5 Richem Seconday School 3pts; 6 John Ross High School 3pts

Right place, right time. Goal Attack for Khombindlela High School, Siphokazi Mchunu watches the ball into her hands as Tholokuhle High School Amahle Mthethwa plots her defence in the regional final of the KZN North Coast Regional at the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Fast 5’s Netball Challenge that was hosted at Empangeni High School on Saturday 2 August.