Gauteng leads the way at the first u16 National Basketball Championships

Following in the footsteps of their u18 counterparts, Gauteng was crowned the champions of both the boys’ and girls’ sections of the first u16 National Basketball Championships, which were held at Umlazi, just outside of Durban, on Thursday.
From 25-28 March, five provinces – Limpopo, the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng – duelled for the interprovincial honours.
The Gauteng u16 boys’ team dominated throughout the event. They faced the Western Cape, which has made a big push at grassroots level to develop basketball, in the semifinals. Although it was a tough outing, Gauteng came away with a 45-31 victory.
Western Cape then went on to defeat Eastern Cape in the third-place playoff, recording a comfortable 63-44 win.
In the final, Gauteng faced KwaZulu-Natal. Those two provinces have clearly established themselves as the best in South Africa, with schools from both ranking at or near the top of the game in the country.
On this occasion, it was Gauteng who came out on top, taking the title with a 63-54 win.
The Gauteng girls were ruthless in their semi-final match against the Eastern Cape. It was one-way traffic as they charged their way to a 72-8 victory, which set them up for a meeting with Western Cape for the title.
They matched their boys’ side, scoring 63 points, but they conceded only 36, to win by 27, and thus went down in history as the first u16 inter-provincial champions of South Africa.
RESULTS
Semi-finals
Girls: Gauteng 72-8 Eastern Cape; Western Cape 38-36 Kwazulu-Natal
Boys: KwaZulu-Natal 90-39 Eastern Cape; Gauteng 45-31 Western Cape
3rd place playoff
Girls: KwaZulu-Natal 55-25 Eastern Cape
Boys: Western Cape 63-44 Eastern Cape
Final
Girls: Gauteng 63-36 Western Cape
Boys: Gauteng 63-54 KwaZulu-Natal
Women’s Rankings
- Gauteng; 2. Western Cape, 3. KwaZulu-Natal, 4. Eastern Cape, 5. Limpopo
Men’s Rankings
- Gauteng, 2. KwaZulu-Natal, 3. Western Cape, 4. Eastern Cape, 5. Limpopo
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