Inaugural Pretoria Boys High Pre-Season Basketball Festival a grand success
The inaugural Pre-Season Basketball Festival at Pretoria Boys High School (PHBS), contested over three days, ending on Saturday, successfully launched PHBS’s 125th anniversary celebrations.
Although it was a pre-season event, all 12 participating teams from Gauteng delivered exciting action. As a preparation exercise for the forthcoming season, the festival was also a runaway success, helping the players to work on their team cohesion, strategies, combinations, competitive spirit, and skills.
The line-up included many of the country’s leading teams, among them PHBS A, ESCA, King Edward VII School (KES), St John’s College, St Alban’s College, and St David’s Marist Inanda.
With the event being a festival, no winner was designated after Saturday’s last games. The event was more a celebration of the game than of results.
Ludwig Gerdes, the Director of Basketball at Pretoria Boys High, told SuperSport Schools Plus the festival had been exceptionally well received and it also filled a gap by giving teams an opportunity to prepare for the season in a competitive environment.
“Given the early timing of the festival, many teams arrived directly from their school holidays and were understandably not at peak fitness or form,” Gerdes said.
However, he explained, by the afternoon of the festival’s first day, the majority of teams had started to establish their rhythm, and by the end of the festival on Saturday, many teams were close to firing on all cylinders.
“Throughout the festival, it became increasingly evident that the upcoming season will be both open and fiercely competitive. The majority of games were closely contested, with teams going toe-to-toe in nearly every matchup,” Gerdes said.
“As a result of the positive feedback and high standard of competition, we are strongly considering making this an annual event, with plans to expand to 16 teams, including some of the most competitive sides from across the country.”
Hosting the festival also provided a meaningful opportunity for Boys High to celebrate the milestone of 125 years of existence, he added.
“In doing so, we believe we have carved out a place in the South African basketball landscape as a destination for high-level, competitive basketball.”
Reflecting on the home side’s performance’s, Gerdes said: “A personal highlight of the festival was the opening game, which saw the home side (PHBS) take on our city rivals, St Alban’s College. We secured a hard-fought 42–35 victory to open the festival, although it should be noted that St Alban’s returned the favour by claiming a win in the final fixture against the hosts,” he concluded.
Only one team, ESCA, emerged from the festival with a clean record. Their toughest challenge came from KES, with ESCA holding on for a one-point victory, winning 32-31 on Friday.
RESULTS
Saturday, 10 January
ESCA 34-24 PHBS A
St Alban’s College 33-27 St David’s
KES 32-21 St Stithians College
St John’s A 28-22 King’s Linbro
Jeppe 84-16 Crawford
St John’s B 22-15 PHBS B
PHBS A 24-22 St David’s
ESCA 45-25 St Alban’s College
KES 35-5 St John’s A
St Stithians College 29-21 King’s Linbro
Jeppe 33-31 St John’s B
PHBS B 51-7 Crawford
St Alban’s College 45-40 PHBS A
ESCA 44-30 St David’s
KES 48-16 King’s Linbro
St Stithians College 25-18 St John’s A
Jeppe 43-28 PHBS B
St John’s B 52-8 Crawford
