AISJ High Schools tournament 2008

This year’s tournament began with little fanfare. But with the defending champions for the boys (American International School of Johannesburg – AISJ) and for the girls (Pretoria High School for Girls-PHSG) taking part it was sure to start heating up after the first round of matches.

In the girls section, the first round produced a few surprises with new-comers to the tournament and Pretoria schools champions The Glen High School losing to Waterford 10-9. This result meant that two teams from Pretoria were paired together in the semis with PHSG facing The Glen High School. This semi-final followed the usual trend of rivalry matches and was a very close affair with PHSG coming out victorious by a score 15-12. The other semi-final was contested between the hosts AISJ and Waterford, with Waterford coming out victorious on the back of some good shooting. The final was a tense and nervy affair that didn’t live up to the expectations of the fans, with PHSG coming out on top by 7 points (27 – 20). The All-stars for the girls from PHSG were Mapitso Makena and Valmy Craffert, from The Glen High School it was Mamoena Kubuzie… The highlight of this encounter was a nerve calming 3 pointer by Mapitso Makena.

In the Boys section, the first round also produced some surprising results with Pretoria Boys High School (PBHS) losing to Holy family. This meant another clash between teams from Pretoria in the semis with PBHS facing St Albans. In the end St Albans prevailed on the back of individual mistakes committed by PBHS winning 30-25. In the other semi-final the hosts AISJ was up against International School of South Africa (ISSA), who had a better team. But the young players of AISJ produced an amazing result on the back of some fantastic team play on the offensive and defensive end and some good shooting from their number 5. The final between St Albans and AISJ was a close affair. St Albans being in the final for the third time in a row wanted to make up for their previous defeats. St Albans dominated the rebounds and was more clinical in their finishing and they prevailed against a very young AISJ team that can only get better. The highlight of the game was a two handed slam dunk by St Albans number 4.

Some tournament notes: PHSG take the trophy home for the 4^th year in a row, and St Albans finally beat AISJ in the final to claim their first victory. We are all looking forward to next year’s edition of this tournament.