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Pretoria High School League: Willows whitewash St Albans – 8 May 2009

May 19, 2009 in Gauteng

Friday the 8th of May saw Willowridges’s male sides take a daunting trip down the road to rivals St. Albans College for a league fixture that promised a lot of fireworks. Willowridge U/14 and U/16 A boys needed to win these games to stay in contention as they had already lost this season and the First Team had a score to settle as they had lost in a controversial manner to the same side last year.

The U/14 game started off slow with St. Albans taking possesion but not putting it too good use as they were a bit ‘too patient’ on offence allowing the defence to catch them out. A few lay up’s saw St. Albans take the lead and Willows had it all to do in this do-or-die encounter. Dumisani Shongwe and Theo Malatji, the Willowridge coaches, did not waste much time in calling a time out to restructure their game plan. This seemed to have been a wise move as Willows tightened up defence and hardly let another basket in for the first half. College had many players with potential but minor issues like constant three second violations, fouls and the usual jitters had them playing from an almost stagnant position on offence. Victor Fouda, the College coach should have done better to make use of his no.15, a player the size of your average U/19 SG who could easily pass of for Shaq’s son (except he is white). This giant was well contained by Willows and when he did get chances he failed to convert. The second half saw Willows adopt the ‘draw fouls’ approach as they drove the ball to the basket hard drawing some crucial fouls and netting important free throws. When College stopped fouling it was the shooting guards turn to shine as they dropped jump shots like a heavy load, Willows had it pretty much wrapped up half way through the second half. The excitement got to the young boys who began giving away easy possession and making clumsy passes on the fast break, this allowed College to score some easy lay ups to salvage some pride on the score sheet. Willowridge U/14 boys outclassed St. Albans to emerge 30 – 20 victors. The dream lives on. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Basketball, Pretoria Boys High School, St Albans College, Tshwane Basketball Association, Willowridge High School Comments Off

by Victor Shakineza

Pretoria High School League: Willows report – 24/25 April 2009

May 8, 2009 in Gauteng

BOYS

On Friday the 24^th of April Willowridge High continued with their league conquest at home against Lyttleton Manor and The Glen respectively.

The first game saw the home teams U/14 A boys take on The Glen High School’s A team. The Glen was still recovering from a thorough walloping by Pretoria Boys High School and came into this game hoping to salvage some pride. Willowridge also needed to stabilise their campaign after a shock loss the previous week so this was expected to be a humdinger. Both teams exchanged possession frequently as they settled into the game. Glen High worked well on offence but the disciplined 2-3 defence by the home team frustrated the visitors as their shots did not fall. Willowridge soon found their stride in the second quarter and began dominating the possession. The half time break was needed by the home team as Coach Dumisani Shongwe took the time to motivate his boys and alter the strategy. This seemed to have worked as the second half saw Willows run away with the game as their fast break proved too much for the visitors. Willows took the game 18-2 and left the Glen with many questions as to their possibilities of success this season. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Basketball, Mamelodi Bees, Pretoria High School for Girls, Rosina Sedibane, The Glen High School, Tshwane Basketball Association, Willowridge High School Comments Off

by Victor Shakineza

Pretoria High School League: Willows report – 17/18 April 2009

April 21, 2009 in Gauteng

Boys…

Willowridge High School kicked off their league games on Friday with their boys squaring up against PBHS. The U/16 A boys played Pretoria Boys High School A team in a lacklustre game which lacked any thrills. Pretoria Boys High School dominated from the start and Willowridge never looked like they were the home team let alone in it to win it. The visitor’s shooting guards did all the hard work and all about wrapped up the game in the first half. Coach Tumi’s boys lacked ideas on offence and their defensive intensity wore off quick. Coach Chris Kaniki of PBHS, did well to ensure that the Willows posts, who were taller, never got a chance to dominate against his resilient side. It will be very interesting to see these teams square up again as Willows have promised revenge, they will have to do better though if they have any ambitions for these season.

The U/14 A boys played PBHS B team and everybody was expecting fireworks as Willows are 2 years U/14 defending champs but that was not to be. The home team went on a 10-2 streak in the first quarter but that was about all she wrote. The game was marred but lots of handling errors and missed lay-up’s, a poor reflection on the coaching provided to the youngsters. PBHS eventually fought back and Willows lack of creativity on the bench as well as millions of missed opportunities led to them suffering a shock 18-16 defeat to the underdogs who put up a good fight. Willows will have to step up their game if they wish to make it 3 years in a row.

The home sides 1^st team played PBHS 2^nd team in a game that Willows dominated from the start. Although Willows was always in control their performance was far from inspirational against a well coached PBHS team which showed passion, discipline and commitment. The willows culture of relying on individuals might come back to haunt them later in the season.

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Tags: Mamelodi Bees, PBHS, Prestige, Pretoria Boys High School, The Glen High School, Willowridge High School Comments Off

by Victor Shakineza