{"id":85802,"date":"2025-10-30T20:45:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T18:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=85802"},"modified":"2025-10-30T20:45:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T18:45:23","slug":"kess-dominance-continues-wins-for-maritzburg-college-and-northwood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=85802","title":{"rendered":"KES&#8217;s dominance continues, wins for Maritzburg College and Northwood"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_85826\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-85826\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-85826 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Northwood-Basketball-2-400x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-85826\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Northwood took charge early against Clifton College and rolled to a convincing win. Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nwoodschool\"><strong>Northwood on Facebook.<\/strong><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Exams are hurtling into view, and with that the 2025 schools&#8217; basketball season is also set to come to an end this coming weekend. On the weekend past, a number of schools also played their last matches of the year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KwaZulu-Natal<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Northwood vs Clifton\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In KwaZulu-Natal, <strong>Northwood<\/strong>, the winners of the <a href=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/northwood-retains-st-johns-basketball-tournament-title\/\"><strong>St John&#8217;s College Basketball Tournament<\/strong><\/a> for the past two years, faced off against <strong>Clifton College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In a dominant win, Northwood showcased their depth and talent.<\/p>\n<p>However, the contest was not solely controlled by Northwood&#8217;s regular starters. Several uncapped players were also given an opportunity to experience first-team basketball. That served as valuable preparation for the <em><strong>Knights<\/strong><\/em>&#8216; basketball team for the forthcoming year, considering that several matriculants will depart the school following their exams.<\/p>\n<p>The primary group of Northwood&#8217;s starters, except for their <strong>South Africa National<\/strong> <strong>Team<\/strong> u18 player, <strong>Siya Shabalala<\/strong>, who was unavailable, played for the first half and established a commanding lead.<\/p>\n<p>In the second half, adjustments were made, and those who began the game on the bench entered with confidence and composure, upholding the Knights&#8217; championship mentality and standards, while continuing to extend their lead on the scoreboard.<\/p>\n<p>There was some outstanding scoring from <strong>Awande Chiliza<\/strong>, who dropped 24 points, while <strong>Sims Vaku<\/strong> contributed 23 points and expertly managed the tempo from the guard position.<\/p>\n<p>By the final whistle, Northwood had almost doubled up Clifton, scoring a decisive 85\u201343 win.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kearsney College vs Glenwood High<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_84100\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-84100\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-84100\" src=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/basketball-kearsney-pabatso-sithole-011025-400x266.jpg\" alt=\"Pabatso Sithole stole the show for Kearsney College in the Independent Schools Stayers' Basketbal Tournament final, scoring 26 points in their one-point win over St John's College.\" width=\"400\" height=\"266\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-84100\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pabatso Sithole stole the show for Kearsney College in the Independent Schools Stayers&#8217; Basketball Tournament final, scoring 26 points in their one-point win over St John&#8217;s College.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At Glenwood High, <strong>Pabatso Sithole<\/strong>, from Kearsney College, led the team with 12 points, followed closely by <strong>Abake Moyo<\/strong> with 11 points, while <strong>Kwakuhle Sibiya<\/strong> and <strong>Daniel Prinsloo<\/strong> each contributed seven points, and <strong>Lubani Mseleku<\/strong> added six points for the visitors.<\/p>\n<p>Sithole was one of the standout players for Kearsney on their home court when they secured the <a href=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/kearsney-lifts-independent-schools-stayers-basketball-tournament-title\/\"><strong>Kearsney Independent Schools Stayers&#8217; Basketball Tournament (ISSBT)<\/strong><\/a> title at the end of September this year, scoring 26 points in the final against <strong>St John&#8217;s College.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, in the sweltering heat on Glenwood\u2019s outdoor courts, Kearsney started strongly, establishing an eight-point lead of 10-2 by the conclusion of the first quarter.<\/p>\n<p>Kearsney maintained their defensive intensity in the second quarter, allowing Glenwood only three additional points by half-time, while consistently adding to their own total. By half-time, the game was all but decided with Kearsney leading 31-5.<\/p>\n<p>The heat impacted the third and fourth quarters, which led to Kearsney&#8217;s intensity dropping. The contest became much tighter, with the Botha&#8217;s Hill bunch tacking on another 28 points, while Glenwood found their way by scoring 21 of their own.<\/p>\n<p>It ended 59-26 in favour of the visitors.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Maritzburg College vs St Charles College<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On a sweltering summer Saturday, Maritzburg College faced off against St Charles College in a showdown between Pietermaritzburg rivals with established traditions of excellence on the basketball court.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>Alan Paton Memorial Hall<\/strong> buzzed with enthusiasm and anticipation as the tip-off approached. However, both teams started sluggishly, with the extreme heat and the physical nature of the clash exacting a toll. At the end of the first quarter, the <em><strong>Red, Black<\/strong><\/em>, and <em><strong>White<\/strong> <\/em>led 12-8.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_85827\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-85827\" style=\"width: 333px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-85827 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/St-Charles-College-Basketball--333x500.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"333\" height=\"500\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-85827\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A player from St Charles College executing a dunk while the bench of Maritzburg College observes. Photo:<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A robust performance from College in the second quarter, however, increased their advantage to 11 points.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the remainder of the match, it was a back-and-forth tussle. College, though, had set themselves up for victory with their strong second quarter and it finished 58-45 in favour of the home team.<\/p>\n<p>In other matches in KZN, <strong>Hilton College<\/strong> and <strong>Durban High School (DHS)<\/strong> delivered a thriller. In total, 157 points were scored, but only three separated the sides, with DHS edging it 80-77.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Westville Boys&#8217; High<\/strong>, meanwhile, had the measure of <strong>Michaelhouse<\/strong>, winning by 18 points, 65-47.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eastern Cape<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the Eastern Cape, <strong>Queen&#8217;s College<\/strong> concluded their schedule with a rout of their great rivals, <strong>Dale College<\/strong>. It was one-way traffic, with Queen&#8217;s triumphing 73-13.<\/p>\n<p>In Makhanda, St Andrew&#8217;s College hosted <strong>Grey<\/strong> <strong>High<\/strong>, and it was the visitors who stunned the home team, pulling off a 43-38 win.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gauteng<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>King Edward VII School (KES)<\/strong> followed up their recent success at St David&#8217;s Marist Inanda&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/all-star-trio-leads-kes-to-inanda-hoops-title\/\"><strong>Inanda Hoops Classic Challenge<\/strong><\/a> by cruising to a 51-29 victory over <strong>Pretoria Boys High<\/strong> on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>KES has been in excellent form. They won all of their matches at the Inanda Hoops Classic Challenge, one of the country&#8217;s top basketball tournaments, and had three players selected to the All-Star Team.<\/p>\n<p>They included <strong>Siya Ndlovu<\/strong>, who was named the event&#8217;s <strong>Most Valuable Player (MVP)<\/strong>. He\u00a0who cracked the nod alongside his teammates, <strong>Bradley Moyo<\/strong> and <strong>Tim Fanny<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>On a busy weekend for <strong>St John&#8217;s College<\/strong> sports&#8217; teams, their basketball side claimed a 39-32 win over <strong>St Stithians College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>St David&#8217;s, who were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Inanda Hoops Classic Challenge by <strong>Michael Mount Waldorf <\/strong>last weekend, returned to action with a 57-49 victory over <strong>Jeppe High School for Boys<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>St Alban&#8217;s College <\/strong>completed their year&#8217;s programme in style, winning by 20 points against <strong>Parktown Boys&#8217; High<\/strong>, 57-37.<\/p>\n<p>Redhill School also picked up a win, beating <strong>Helpmekaar College<\/strong> 49-26.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Eastern Cape<\/p>\n<p>Queen&#8217;s College 73-13 Dale College<br \/>\nGrey High School 43-38 St Andrew&#8217;s College<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gauteng\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>St John&#8217;s College 39-32 St Stithians College<br \/>\nSt David&#8217;s 57-49 Jeppe<br \/>\nKES 51-29 Pretoria Boys High<br \/>\nSt Alban&#8217;s College 57-37 Parktown Boys&#8217; High<br \/>\nRedhill 49-26 Helpmekaar<\/p>\n<p><strong>KwaZulu-Natal\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Westville 65-47 Michaelhouse<br \/>\nNorthwood 89-49 Clifton College<br \/>\nDHS 80-77 Hilton College<br \/>\nMaritzburg College 58-45 St Charles College<br \/>\nKearsney College 59-26 Glenwood<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exams are hurtling into view, and with that the 2025 schools&#8217; basketball season is also set to come to an end this coming weekend. On the weekend past, a number of schools also played their last matches of the year. KwaZulu-Natal Northwood vs Clifton\u00a0 In KwaZulu-Natal, Northwood, the winners of the St John&#8217;s College Basketball [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":85340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85802","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\/85802","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=85802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/85340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}