St John’s defeats rivals St Stithians at St David’s Marist, Inanda Hoops Classic Challenge
HOUGHTON – St John's College defeated St Stithians College 50–46 to win the Inanda Hoops Classic Challenge.
St John’s College managed to defeat their crosstown rivals St Stithians College 50–46 to be crowned champions at the St David’s Marist, Inanda Hoops Classic Challenge.
The competition featured U15 teams from some of Gauteng’s top schools.
St John’s and St Stithians both deserved their place in the final after moving through the pool stages of the tournament unbeaten.
The St Stithians road to the final saw them put in a clinical performance throughout, defeating St Dunstans College 57–27, St David’s Marist B 51–14, Redhill School 53–17, Jeppe High School for Boys 35–29 and St Benedict’s College 35–27. In the semi-finals, they met Bishop Bavin who they edged past with 44–39 to book their spot in the final.
Fellow finalists St John’s beat Bishop Bavin 38–34, King Edward VII 63–31, St Alban’s College 40–35, St Andrew’s College 26–7, St David’s Marist 25–7. The semi-final duel between St John’s and St Benedicts College ended in a 50–43 victory for St John’s.
St Stithians enjoyed a slender lead throughout the first three quarters. The end of the third quarter saw Saints leading 36–32 before St John’s turned things up to produce a remarkable comeback to win 50–46.
The St John’s College U15A head coach David Onyejieke was pleased with his team’s display during the tournament.
“It took a lot of hard work from our boys and coaching staff to do so well. This year we made a few changes to how we prepared the boys for the season, which has paid off… I’m so proud of the boys’ hard work on and off the court, winning the tournament has just proved to them that anything is possible through hard work,” said Onyejieke.
He was pleased with the level of maturity his team possessed throughout the competition. “I drilled it into the boys that nobody is bigger than the team, and I believe they have demonstrated this throughout the tournament. They stayed united even when we weren’t playing and stayed away from the noise when they took a breather.”
Onyejieke said their aim for the tournament was to take it one game at a time to ease the pressure. He said he was pleased to see his plan work out so well.
He also thanked assistant coach Angelo Quinn and master-in-charge of basketball Ngoza Phiri-Mazarura.
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