{"id":65953,"date":"2025-03-01T21:38:32","date_gmt":"2025-03-01T19:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=65953"},"modified":"2025-03-01T21:38:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T19:38:32","slug":"semifinal-spots-sealed-at-kes-water-polo-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=65953","title":{"rendered":"Semifinal spots sealed at KES Water Polo Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bishops
Bishops outplayed KES to secure a semi-final place in the KES Water Polo Tournament. Photo: TeamPhoto SA<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The defending champions of the King Edward VII (KES) Water Polo Tournament<\/a><\/strong>, Rondebosch Boys’ High<\/strong> will face their southern suburbs’ rivals, Bishops Diocesan College,<\/strong> for a place in Sunday’s final.<\/p>\n

In the other semi-final, Hilton College<\/strong> carries KwaZulu-Natal’s hopes, while St Stithians College<\/strong> flies the flag for Gauteng.<\/p>\n

The action takes place at the Mark Stevens Aquatic Centre<\/strong> and will be broadcast LIVE on SuperSport Schools<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To book their places in the semifinals, Rondebosch, Bishops, Hilton, and Saints<\/strong><\/em> had to play some of their best polo in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

Bosch was far from convincing on the opening day<\/a> <\/strong>when they scored nervy wins over Selborne College<\/strong> and Jeppe High School for Boys<\/strong>. On Saturday, they suffered a shock 7-8 loss to Clifton College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

That defeat mattered little, however, and Bosch finished atop Pool C to book a date with South African College High School (SACS)<\/strong> in the last eight.<\/p>\n

With a semi-final place on the line, coach Jared Wingate-Pearse<\/strong>\u2019s outfit played their socks off, scoring 11 times while conceding eight goals.\u00a0Noah Reiback<\/a><\/strong> and Kieran Bennewith<\/strong> both found the back of the net three times while Luke Burger<\/strong> netted a brace.\u00a0The scoring was completed by further goals from Zack Labuschagne<\/strong> and Matthew Galpin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Their opponents, Bishops also had a bumpy ride to the last four, although they dominated their quarterfinal clash against the hosts, KES.<\/p>\n

What’s clear, though, is that coach Jabulani Sibiya’<\/strong>s Bishops’ boys have not reached their full potential and they could be peaking at the right time.\u00a0Their 16-8 demolition of KES<\/strong> in the quarterfinal was a clear indication that they’re hitting their stride.<\/p>\n

Harry Ford<\/strong> was the enforcer for the Capetonians, netting a whopping six goals, while Matt Fenn<\/strong> scored four times, and Danie Van der Heever<\/strong> snagged a brace.\u00a0Jack Grout<\/strong>, Owen Cross<\/strong>, Milo Letschert<\/strong>, and Timothy Young<\/strong> also got in on the action to seal the victory for their team.<\/p>\n

The Bish\/Bosch semifinal meeting will be the fourth match between the Cape Town sides in under a month.<\/p>\n

Bishops have the upper hand after winning two of the previous three meetings, with the most recent win coming during the final of the SACS Nite Series<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Hilton
Hilton College defeated Selborne College to book their spot in the semifinals of the KES Water Polo Tournament. Photo: TeamPhotoSA<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The second semifinal, which also promises to thrill, sees Hilton facing Saints<\/strong><\/em>, who will be banking on some home support.<\/p>\n

St Stithians has impressed and shut down any doubters with their performances this weekend.<\/p>\n

Under the guidance of coach Michael Stewart<\/strong>, they beat St Andrew’s College<\/strong> and Northwood<\/strong> in the pool stages. But they saved their best performance for the quarterfinals, where they faced Kearsney College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It was a thrilling game of water polo that delivered end-to-end action and some superb goals.<\/p>\n

Travis Donnelly<\/strong> was the standout player for Saints, striking four times while Nathan Mansfield<\/strong> scored a hat-trick.\u00a0Blake Morton<\/strong> and James Crick<\/strong> both bagged braces, while James Pohl<\/strong>\u00a0fired in a hat-trick for Kearsney.<\/p>\n

With that win, St Stithians knocked out one of the favourites for the tournament, but they won’t have an easy ride against Hilton.\u00a0The KwaZulu-Natal school has gone about its business in a very quiet and admirable way.<\/p>\n

They breezed past the pool stages with two wins and one draw before brushing aside Selborne College 11-7 in the last eight.<\/p>\n

Tristan Uys<\/strong> was, as usual, in the thick of the scoring, contributing four goals, while Hilton captain, Thomas Taylor<\/strong>, scored three.\u00a0Mitchelle Garreau<\/strong> joined the action with another two, while Garrick Phillips<\/strong> and Liam Casey <\/strong>also made it onto the score sheet.<\/p>\n

The losers in the quarterfinals faced off before the day\u2019s play came to an end in the Cup playoffs section, with\u00a0SACS defeating KES 4-2, and Kearsney beating Selborne 4-3.<\/p>\n

That means it will be SACS versus Kearsney for fifth place on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The final day’s action kicks off at 07:00, with the first semifinal scheduled for 08:00<\/strong> between Bishops and Rondebosch.<\/p>\n

DAY 2 RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bishops (2) 9-9 (1) St Andrew’s College
\nKearsney 6-5 Paul Roos
\nClifton 8-7 Rondebosch
\nSt John’s College 15-3 Pretoria Boys High
\nSt Stithians 14-3 Northwood
\nKES 9-7 Westville
\nSelborne College 10-2 Jeppe
\nHilton College (2) 10-10 (0) SACS<\/p>\n

Plate quarterfinals<\/strong><\/p>\n

St Andrew’s College 4-3 Westville
\nPaul Roos 5-4 Northwood
\nClifton 5-2 Pretoria Boys High
\nSt John’s 5-4 Jeppe<\/p>\n

Cup quarterfinals<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bishops 16-8 KES
\nSt Stithians 11-8 Kearnsey
\nRondebosch 11-8 SACS
\nHilton College 11-7 Selborne College<\/p>\n

Plate playoffs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Westville 4-3 Pretoria Boys High
\nNorthwood 5-3 Jeppe<\/p>\n

Cup playoffs<\/strong><\/p>\n

KES 2-4 SACS
\nKearsney 4-3 Selborne<\/p>\n

DAY 3 FIXTURES\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

07:00 –<\/strong> St Andrew’s College vs Clifton; 07:30 –<\/strong> Paul Roos vs St John’s; 08:00 –<\/strong> Bishops vs Rondebosch; 08:50 –<\/strong> Hilton vs St Stithians; 09:40 –<\/strong> Westville vs Northwood; 10:10 –<\/strong> Plate 5th\/6th playoff match;\u00a010:40 –<\/strong> Plate 3rd\/4th playoff match;\u00a011:10 –<\/strong> Plate final;\u00a011:40 –<\/strong> Selborne College vs KES; 12:10 –<\/strong> Kearsney vs SACS; 12:40 –<\/strong> 3rd\/4th Playoff match;\u00a013:30 –<\/strong> Final<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The defending champions of the King Edward VII (KES) Water Polo Tournament, Rondebosch Boys’ High will face their southern suburbs’ rivals, Bishops Diocesan College, for a place in Sunday’s final. In the other semi-final, Hilton College carries KwaZulu-Natal’s hopes, while St Stithians College flies the flag for Gauteng. The action takes place at the Mark […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":65983,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/65983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}