Local school defends title
SHAYAMOYA Area Secondary School defended the title for the fourth time in the KZN Southern Regional leg of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Fast 5’s Netball Challenge at King Edward High School last Saturday, August 23.
The Kokstad-based school entertained the vibrant, vocal crowds surrounding the courts in Matatiele as they took on travelling team Mthatha High School in the regional final.
Undeterred by the gusts of wind breezing across the court, Captain Kwanele Lamane was adventurous in her attacks.
Filling the role of goal attack, together with her fellow forward Tinomuda Mkhanya they put some points on the board.
The scoreline see-sawed up with Shayamoya opening their account 15 seconds into the game after four sure passes found Mkhanya camped under the net.
Mthatha High responded 30 seconds later with a determined surge into Shayamoya Area Secondary circle. Shayamoya Area Secondary nudged their score up by another point with Mthatha High responding down the other side.
Nearing midway through the first half, Mthatha High faltered, missing a relatively easy shot. Pouncing on Mthatha High’s loss of momentum, Shayamoya Area Secondary upped their tempo with their flamboyant flair being unleashed.
Shortly after Mkhanya netted her team’s third point, Lamane floated in a bold two-pointer, followed by two more long range shots that ricocheted off the rim.
Both forwards pocketed one more goal going into halftime with the scoreline sitting on 7-2.
In the second half, Shayamoya Area Secondary continued their colourful attack only allowing Mthatha High goal attack Buhle Noto to add one point to their tally.
Meanwhile their daring charges, spurred on by playmaker Zibuyile Dlembula feeding her teammates down the other end, resulted in netting another eight more points including a couple more two pointers by Lamane.
Lamane’s intrepid play found her outside the circle, looping in a three-pointer that was slightly off target, rebounding generously for the captain who had stepped inside the circle. With the full-time whistle almost blasting, she sent the ball ‘hoopwards’, successfully sinking her third two-pointer of the final.
Leading up to the final, Shayamoya Area Secondary met newcomer Zamokuhle Secondary School in their semi-final, while Mthatha High took on host school, King Edward High School. Similar to their round robin game, Shayamoya Area Secondary controlled play with an impressive result of 15-1, snubbing out any of Zamokuhle Secondary plays with impressive intercepts and turn-overs sending play down to Zamokuhle Secondary circle.
In the second semi-final, the conclusion was more riveting.
Having met two games prior in the round robin, in a defender-heavy, low-scoring game, Mthatha High edged King Edward, who have played for the title in the last two years, out by a mere one point.
In the semi-final, both teams dug deep to fire the ball up to the goals, with points raining down, Mthatha High took the semi 10-7 and advanced to the final for the first time. This weekend, the challenge heads to the picturesque inner city setting of St Henry’s Marist College who welcomes Durban Central teams on Saturday, August 30.
-Supplied
