{"id":84523,"date":"2025-10-10T06:47:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T04:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=84523"},"modified":"2025-10-10T06:47:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T04:47:55","slug":"esca-wanderers-win-second-basketball-title-in-less-than-a-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=84523","title":{"rendered":"ESCA Wanderers win second basketball title in less than a month"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"
ESCA Wanderers celebrated winning a second basketball title in under a month at the Westville Boys’ High Invitational Schools Stayers’ Basketball Tournament. Photo: Westville Boys’ High on Facebook<\/strong><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some of South Africa’s most prominent basketball-playing schools offered a glimpse of the future at the recent Westville Boys’ High<\/strong> Invitational Schools Stayers’ Basketball Tournament (ISSBT).<\/strong><\/p>\n

The lineup included many schools with big titles in their pasts and the present, including, among others, Northwood, Maritzburg College, Kearsney College<\/strong>, and the Elite Sporting and Cultural Academy (ESCA) Wanderers<\/strong>, who ultimately claimed victory in the tournament.<\/p>\n

It came down to a showdown between ESCA and Maritzburg College in the final, and there was little to separate the sides. In the end, there were only three points in it, with ESCS claiming a 54-51 victory after fiercely contested title game.<\/p>\n

It was a second title in quick succession for ESCS, who\u00a0lifted The King’s School Linbro Park Basketball Tournament<\/strong> <\/a>title in mid-September.<\/p>\n

Their title-winning run at Westville was led by Siyabonga Mashaba, who is, undoubtedly, one of the most promising young talents in the game. He and his teammate Alex Price were included in the All-Star Team at Westville, with Mashaba also receiving the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. The duo also shone in the final, making key contributions to their side’s victory.<\/p>\n

Mashaba was also honoured as the MVP of The King’s School Linbro Park Basketball Tournament. Before that, he had represented South Africa at the Giants of Africa Festival in Rwanda in July, which was followed with his selection for the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa Camp<\/strong><\/a>, in August.<\/p>\n

\"\"
All-Star Team, from left to right. Alex Price (MVP – ESCA), Awande Chiliza (Northwood), Pabatso Sithole (Kearsney College), Mpho Ntlakana (Maritzburg College), and Siyabonga Mashaba (ESCA). Photo: Westville Boys’ High on Facebook<\/strong><\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mpho Ntlakana<\/strong> helped to drive Maritzburg College to the final and his efforts were recognised when he, too, was included in the All-Star Team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The bronze playoff featured Northwood, a team that has dominated the South African schools’ basketball scene for two consecutive years, which included finishing the 2024\/25 season unbeaten and winning the prestigious St John’s College Basketball Tournament in both 2024 and 2025<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Coach Kent VanderYacht’s<\/strong> squad went down 53-59 to Maritzburg College in the semi-finals, which left them to take on Kearsney College, who\u00a0recently won the Kearsney College Independent Schools Stayers’ Basketball Tournament (ISSBT)<\/strong> <\/a>last week.<\/p>\n

Kearsney’s attempt at winning a second title in quick succession came up short against ESCA in the semi-finals, with the Gauteng side scoring a comfortable 55-37 win.<\/p>\n

Victory in the bronze playoff went Northwood’s way. They rebounded from their loss to College with a 61-51 victory over Kearsney after an entertaining contest.<\/p>\n

Awande Chiliza<\/strong>, from Northwood, was named to the All-Star Team, while Pabatso Sithole<\/strong>, from Kearsney, who regularly tops the scoring charts, was also included.<\/p>\n

When Kearsney won the ISSBT on their home court, he dropped 26 points on St John’s College<\/strong> in the final to lead his side to a narrow one-point victory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Group Results\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Group A<\/strong><\/p>\n

Parktown Boys’ High 50-48 Pretoria Boys High
\nParktown Boys’ High 47-21 Queen’s College
\nPretoria Boys High 52-33 DSK German
\nPretoria Boys High 35-20 Queen’s College
\nDSK German 33-21 Queen’s College
\nParktown Boys’ High 64-35 DSK German<\/p>\n

Group B<\/strong><\/p>\n

Northwood 60-53 KES
\nKES 63-55 SACS
\nNorthwood 78-36 Kearsney College
\nKearsney College 34-31 SACS
\nKearsney College 66-62 KES<\/p>\n

Group C<\/strong><\/p>\n

Westville Boys’ High 53-44 DHS
\nDHS 69-28 The Heritage
\nWestville Boys’ High 64-44 Isiseko Imara
\nWestville Boys’ High 66-31 The Heritage
\nIsiseko Imara 48-31 The Heritage
\nDHS 71-39 Isiseko Imara<\/p>\n

Group D<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maritzburg College 61-23 Jeppe
\nJeppe 32-24 Glenwood
\nESCA 65-49 Maritzburg College
\nMaritzburg College 69-14 Glenwood
\nESCA 69-42 Glenwood
\nESCA 60-43 Jeppe<\/p>\n

Classification Playoffs\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

DSK German 39-29 Glenwood
\nKES 77-31 The Heritage
\nJeppe 42-38 Glenwood
\nJeppe 45-27 Queen’s College
\nIsiseko Imara 58-43 SACS
\nSACS 69-22 The Heritage
\nKES 71-26 Isiseko Imara<\/p>\n

Quarterfinals\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maritzburg College 66-32 Parktown Boys’ High
\nNorthwood 60-59 DHS
\nESCA 40-31 Pretoria Boys High
\nKearsney 53-48 Westville Boys’ High<\/p>\n

Quartefinal Playoffs\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

DHS 53-32 Parktown Boys’ High
\nWestville Boys’ High 47-44 Pretoria Boys High<\/p>\n

Semifinals\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mairtzburg College 59-53 Northwood
\nESCA 55-37 Kearsney College<\/p>\n

Position 15\/16
\n<\/strong>Glenwood 56-44 The Heritage<\/p>\n

Position 13\/14
\n<\/strong>SACS 42-41 Queen’s College<\/p>\n

Position 11\/12
\n<\/strong>DSK German 35-31 Isiseko Imara<\/p>\n

Position 9\/10
\n<\/strong>KES 68-52 Jeppe<\/p>\n

Position 7\/8
\n<\/strong>Parktown Boys’ High 33-30 Pretoria Boys High<\/p>\n

Position 5\/6
\n<\/strong>DHS 46-44 Westville Boys’ High<\/p>\n

Position 3\/4, Bronze Playoff
\n<\/strong>Northwood 61-51 Kearsney College<\/p>\n

Position 1\/2, Final
\n<\/strong>ESCA 54-51 Maritzburg College<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of South Africa’s most prominent basketball-playing schools offered a glimpse of the future at the recent Westville Boys’ High Invitational Schools Stayers’ Basketball Tournament (ISSBT). The lineup included many schools with big titles in their pasts and the present, including, among others, Northwood, Maritzburg College, Kearsney College, and the Elite Sporting and Cultural Academy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":84525,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84523","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\/84523","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\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}