WATER POLO
Kearsney Water Polo Night Series
There was great excitement as the inaugural Kearsney Water Polo Night Series launched last week, with six of the province’s powerhouse water polo teams competing.
The results from Week 1:
Hilton 14-7 Maritzburg College
Kearsney 14-7 DHS
Northwood 10-9 Westville
Kearsney – Westville weekend water polo fixtures
Westville’s 1st team water polo was away at the annual SAC Shield tournament at St Andrews, so whilst Kearsney’s 1sts did not have a game, there were full fixtures across the other sides.
Overall Kearsney had eight wins and two losses against Westville – narrowly losing the 3rd team fixture 7-8 and the U15C game 1-6. Kearsney’s U14A beat Westville 12-2 and the U15A team won 11-5.
CRICKET
Westville 1st team: 138 all out (Du Toit 32, McGough 26; Gorrie 5/23, Moodley 3/35)
Kearsney College 1st team: 72-2 after 25 overs (Moodley 40*)
Game was abandoned
On Saturday, Kearsney 1st X1 hosted Westville 1st X1, with the visitors winning the toss and electing to bat.
Westville started well and were 83-1 after 22 overs, before the introduction of Kearsney’s two extremely successful spinners – Mathew Gorrie and Rivan Moodley. Gorrie, in particular, was exceptional, taking 5 for 23 in his 10 overs, while Moodley supported him well with 3 for 35. Batsmen Ewan du Toit made 32 and Kyle McGough looked good for his 26, but Westville were bowled out for 138 in 40.3 overs.
Kearsney went in to bat and looked pretty comfortable on 72-2 at 25 overs, with Moodley not out on 40; when the mist and rain came in and put a premature end to the game which was abandoned.
BASKETBALL
Kearsney 1st team beat Westville 1st team 62-57
Kearsney hosted Highway rivals Westville Boys’ High in a midweek fixture.
Kearsney struggled to get going offensively, as they looked flat and out of sorts, getting the shots that they wanted but not converting them. Westville, on the other hand, was able to score freely and began to open a commanding lead. The first quarter ended with Westville up 21-12.
The second quarter saw Kearsney tighten up on defense, forcing the opposition to rush their shots and become flustered due to the pressure. Kearsney became more fluent on offence and cut into the Westville lead significantly, gaining confidence and came to terms with the length that Westville had at their disposal on defense. The teams went into half-time with Westville leading 34-32.
In the third quarter, the momentum had shifted into Kearsney’s favour, but Westville still played hard and made some tough shots to maintain their lead. Kearsney managed to get closer on the scoreboard and was only behind by one point at the end of the quarter 45-46, to set up a tense final quarter.
Westville scored first, but seemed to lack fluency in the offensive structure, and their main players appeared fatigued, which led to turnovers and missed shots. Kearsney, although continuing to miss shots, looked the fresher of the teams and used the 24-second shot clock to their advantage, forcing some crucial turnovers through their defensive structure.
Kearsney took the lead and did not surrender it, ending the game on top 62-57.
As always, when these two teams meet, it was a hard and uncompromising match with both teams contributing to make it memorable for the spectators.
Top performers
Kearsney: Pabatso Sithole 19 points, Kabo Ramodibedi 10, Daniel Prinsloo 9, Lubanzi Mseleku 8, Markus Wise 6
Westville: Luseko Sikhulume 16 points, Tristan van Heerdan 14, Lwazi Phungula 9, Ryan Mansfield 5
Kearsney beat LIV Village 76-30
On Saturday Kearsney 1st team hosted LIV Village, who won the Tier Two schools basketball tournament held at St Benedict’s in Pinetown last year, and have garnered a reputation for running a good basketball programme.
The game was played in a good spirit and was more competitive than the final scoreline of 76-30 suggests. It highlighted the gulf that exists between teams from Tier One and Tier Two schools, and the extent to which playing competitive fixtures each week helps players improve and sharpen their skills.
Kearsney’s Kwakuhle Sibiya was the standout player in the game, scoring 22 points.
Report sent from Kearsney College.