Northwood aims for St John’s College Basketball Tournament three-peat

For the last three years, the champions of the annual St John’s College Basketball Tournament have hailed from KwaZulu-Natal, with St Charles College claiming victory in 2023, while Northwood secured the prestigious title in both 2024 and 2025.

Catch the LIVE Action on SuperSport Schools

Each year, the tournament, regarded as the country’s leading event, draws many of South Africa’s finest basketball-playing schools, along with some international participants. This year, they include Zimbabwe’s Falcon College and St George’s College in the u19 A Section. The tournament has previously also featured teams from Botswana.

Northwood, from KwaZulu-Natal, has dominated the competition in the past two years. In 2025, they beat the host team, St John’s College, in the final. In 2024, the Knights overran King Edward VII in the final in a massively impressive show of power to lift the title for the first time.

As the tournament approaches, Northwood has again established itself as one of South Africa’s leading teams. However, a recent loss to Durban High School (DHS) – their first on their home court in six years -has shown that the Knights are not invincible.

The Knights are in Group A of the u19 Category A tournament, where they will face Falcon College, The King’s School Linbro Park, St Stithians College, and Curro Helderwyk. On paper, Kent VanderYacht‘s squad, featuring experienced and dominant players such as Siya Shabalala, a member of the South African junior national team, Simamukele Vacu, and Awande Chiliza, appears well-equipped to top the group.

Group B presents a challenging scenario, but St Benedict’s College appears likely to emerge as the dominant team. They’ll be up against Makhand’s St Andrew’s College, Michael Mount Waldorf, Jeppe High School for Boys, and Hilton College.

Bennies will lean on their captain, Bahlekonke Mazibuko. He’s a composed, lead-by-example tone-setter from whom his teammates draw inspiration. Hilton College, though, could be a dark horse, while Michael Mount produces tenacious teams year in and year out. Any Jeppe team in any sport is always up for a good scrap, while St Andrew’s has a bit of the unknown on their side.

Group C is certainly one to watch, with most teams in high spirits and excellent form in recent weeks. King Edward VII School (KES) has been almost unstoppable since winning the Inanda Hoops Tournament at St David’s Marist Inanda in October 2025.

They also excelled in the Pretoria Boys High Pre-Season Basketball Festival, losing only one game, by a single point, to high-flying ESCA. KES will, no doubt, have ambitions of going all the way to gold at St John’s.

Their group opponents include Pretoria Boys High, Michaelhouse, St David’s Marist Inanda, and Crawford Sandton College. In KZN, Michaelhouse has been in good form and recently edged out a strong Kearsney team by a single point, playing away at the Skweyiya SportZone. St David’s, too, has been racking up victories.

The hosts, and last year’s runner-up, St John’s College, is in Group D. They’ll tackle St Alban’s College, as well as the 2023 champions, St Charles College, Harare’s St George’s College, and Parktown Boys’ High.

It’s a wide-open group, tough to call, and there will likely be little to separate the sides.

The addition of a u19B category, along with the u15 and u13 age groups, has expanded the tournament, which was already the largest basketball event in Southern Africa, to 67 teams and 760 players from the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KZN, Mauritius, and Zimbabwe.

Over 170 games will be played over the four days from 19 to 22 February. If you can’t make it courtside, catch the action LIVE on SuperSport Schools.

GROUPS

u19 Category A

Group A
Northwood, Falcon College, King’s Linbro, St Stithians College, Curro Helderwyk

Group B
St Andrew’s College A, Michael Mount Waldorf A, Jeppe High School for Boys A, Hilton College A, St Benedict’s College A

Group C
Pretoria Boys High A, King Edward VII School A, Michaelhouse A, St David’s Marist Inanda A, Crawford Sandton College A

Group D
St Alban’s College A, St Charles College A, St George’s College A, Parktown Boys’ High A, St John’s College A

u19 Category B

Group A
Sacred Heart College A, Saheti A, Maritzburg College B, Redhill School A, YUT Basketball Academy A

Group B
St Peter’s College, St John’s College B, Alma Mater I.S A, Lamagundi Col A, Crawford Lonehill A

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Siya Pongco

A passionate reader and dedicated writer, Siya possesses three degrees from Rhodes University including a Postgraduate Diploma at Rhodes University. He also played amateur cricket and soccer, both during his university years. While honing his journalism skills at Grocott’s Mail in Makhanda, he developed a profound interest in the community’s response to crime. Additionally, he covered topics such as art/culture and student politics at Rhodes University in 2022. In his spare time, Siya can be found exploring galleries, dining at restaurants, indulging in literature, taking photographs or savouring his favourite dish, spaghetti.

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