Soweto Basketball Academy’s Jr. NBA Finals win highlights the club’s superb 2024
The eighth annual Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA League Johannesburg Finals, organised by the National Basketball Association (NBA) Africa, were contested at Michael Mount Waldorf School in Bryanston, Johannesburg, on Sunday.
In a cool twist, the finalists played in the kits of NBA clubs, with the Soweto Basketball Academy (Phoenix Suns) and Kagiso Basketball Club (Utah Jazz) emerging as the boys’ and girls’ champions
They secured their titles by defeating St. Stithians College (Brooklyn Nets) and the Sandton Hornets (Charlotte Hornets) respectively.
In the boys’ final, the Soweto Basketball Academy toughed it out to defeat Saints 33-26. The Kagiso Basketball Club scored a more clearcut victory in the girls’ final, beating the Sandton Hornets 27-14.
The champion teams produced the event’s leading performers, with Tinyiko Maseko, of the Soweto Basketball Academy, and Omphemetse Gasietsiwe, of the Kagiso Basketball Club, being named the Most Valuable Players.
An All-Star game was also held between the Eastern Conference incorporating the Ekurhuleni Municipality – Benoni, Boksburg, Kempton, Germiston, and Brakpan – and the Western Conference – Sandton, Bryanston, Randburg, Rivonia, and Midrand – which created an opportunity for the top players to strut their stuff.
The Johannesburg Finals brought the curtain down on a season that also included Jnr NBA tournaments in Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, and Phokeng, Rustenburg.
“Since its inception in 2016, the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA League Johannesburg has engaged over 1 500 participants from various parts of Johannesburg through league matches and Jr. NBA clinics,” NBA Africa said in a recent press statement.
The founder of the Soweto Basketball Academy, Monwabisi Dlamini, was delighted by his club’s victory. “That was a very humbling and quite exciting feeling, not just for myself, but for the entire academy, mainly because the Junior NBA is one of the first leagues that we contested in our infancy when we started,” he told SuperSport Schools Plus.
“The league has grown to be, in my opinion, the top u14 league in the country, and to be winning such a league where some of the very best teams are playing from all over, is humbling, and it’s an amazing thing to see these kids work. I mean, I’ve got boys who have been working since last year in this championship.
“It’s humbling and amazing to see them achieve what they’ve set out to achieve.
He added: “It makes me confident that these boys, who were playing this weekend, understand what it takes to achieve, not just in basketball, but in life.”
Dlamini also delighted in the fact that the Soweto Basketball Academy had never won the boys’ title before. The club’s girls’ team had previously powered their way to victory for four years in succession.
Reflecting on the season, Dlamini said: “It was a beautiful season. It had its ups and downs, but the boys did very well. And, as an academy, we are extremely proud of them.”
The Jr. NBA Championship title added shine to a memorable year for the Soweto Basketball Academy, with the u18 boys’ team excelling in tournaments throughout 2024 and proving themselves to be one of the premier sides in South Africa in their age group.
It was also a good year for the Soweto Basketball Academy’s girls’ teams, who secured a long list of titles during the year.
U18 Girls
- Soweto Basketball Uprising Tournament
- St Peter’s College Sports and Cultural Basketball Festival
- KBA Warriors Women’s Day Basketball Tournament
- St John’s Basketball League Tournament
- Soweto Youth Basketball League Tournament
U16 Girls
- St Stithians Basketball Tournament
- Gauteng Basketball League
- St John’s Eagles Basketball League
U14 Girls
- Soweto Basketball Uprising Tournament
U18 Boys
- St John’s Eagles Basketball League
U16 Boys
- St John’s Eagles Basketball League
- Jonathan Khumalo Basketball Tournament
U14 boys
- Soweto Basketball Uprising Tournament
- Jr. NBA Johannesburg Finals
Jr. NBA/Jr WNBA Results, Johannesburg
Boys’ Final
Soweto Basketball Academy (Phoenix Suns) 33-26 St Stithians College (Brooklyn Nets)
Girls’ Final
Kagiso Basketball Club (Utah Jazz) 27-14 Sandton Hornets (Charlotte Hornets)
Boys’ All-Star Game
Western Conference 32 – 31 Eastern Conference
Girls’ All-Star Game
Eastern Conference 12 – 27 Western Conference
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