ST JOHN’S COLLEGE from Harare won the schools boys Under-17 basketball tournament after beating St George’s 32-21 in the final at Bulawayo Club for the Disabled (BCD) on Saturday.
RONALD MOYO SPORTS REPORTER The tournament saw 16 schools from different corners of the country taking part, but at the end of the day it was two Harare sides who reached the final. The champions beat Bulawayo side Petra 17-12 in the quarter-finals before getting one over Christian Brothers College (CBC) from the City of Kings 19-11 to book themselves a ticket to the final.
St George’s made their way to the final after beating Harare-based Heritage 14-12 in the quarter-final and went on to beat Peterhouse of Mashonaland East 29-22.
On their way to the semi-finals, CBC had beaten Falcon 10-6, while other losing semi-finalists Peterhouse had outclassed Lomagundi of Mashonaland West 15-7 in the quarter-final match. Basketball Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ) technical and development president Sikhumbuzo Ndlovu said the games went well, though he was not pleased by the skill of the junior basketball players.
“The games went so well, but the level of skill was not as expected. Even St George’s, the losing finalists did not have the quality we expected. From the games, I learnt that schools should invest in professional coaches,” Ndlovu said.
