26 February 2026
Maritzburg College plays host to the inaugural KZN Top 10 Basketball Competition, which runs from Friday, 27 February, to Sunday, 1 March. Among the 10 schools’ sides are some of South Africa’s premier teams, including the hosts, Maritzburg College, who will be aiming to cement their claim to being the country’s number one team in 2026.
College heads into the competition brimming with confidence. They won the Jenny Orchard Invitational title in their Alan Paton Memorial Hall (APH) on Sunday, beating ESCA, arguably Gauteng’s best team this year, in the final with a stunning fightback, which saw them come back from 20 points down to win 64-55.
While the players on the court did the job, the support alongside it certainly lifted the team, and College will again have that backing over the three days of the event.
They will be tough to beat. They’ve been on a roll all season long, and they’ve yet to taste defeat. Beating the Red, Black, and White would be no mean feat, but beating them in the APH would be taking it to another level altogether.
There are plenty of contenders, however, including Westville Boys’ High, the 2025 winner of the Jenny Orchard Invitational. They also made the semi-finals of the tournament this year, before bowing out at the hands of a dialled-in ESCA team.
Don’t count out Kearsney College. They were well beaten in the semi-finals by College, who fired on all cylinders, romping to a 74-45 victory, but that was the sole occasion this season in which Kearsney had been outclassed. They’re a better unit than that score suggests and were very competitive against Westville in the bronze playoff, eventually going down by only three points, 68-71.
Kearsney showed their teeth, though, in the quarterfinals, outlasting a very good DHS side 72-67. The Horseflies, remember, ended Northwood‘s six-year unbeaten run at home earlier this season. They’re a physical team on an upward trajectory and a dark horse contender.
So, what of the Knights? They’re going to be in the mix, no doubt.
Northwood, beaten only once before the St John’s Basketball Tournament this past weekend, was rocked on the first day, losing in successive games to St Stithians College and The King’s School Linbro Park. Stung, and with their backs to the wall, the Knights responded like champions.
They closed out their Pool A assignments with comfortable wins over Falcon College and Curro Helderwyk before holding off Pretoria Boys High in a play-in clash, which got them into the quarterfinals after they finished third in their group.
In the quarterfinals, Northwood, who were beaten 48-35 by St Stithians on the opening day, reversed that result, outplaying Saints 57-45. Then, in the semi-finals, they toppled the hosts, St John’s College, winning 60-48.
Eventually, though, their back-to-the-wall fightback ended in the final, where Michael Mount Waldorf, with some outstanding three-point shooting, overcame an early deficit to defeat the Knights 65-55.
That’s not necessarily good news for the rest of the KZN Top 10. Yes, Northwood has been proven to be fallible. However, the St John’s Basketball Tournament ensured that they head to Maritzburg College as a battle-hardened outfit. They’ll be tough to beat.
Speaking of St John’s, the depth of Maritzburg College’s basketball was on show in Johannesburg. College’s B team contested the u19B category, where they faced many schools’ first teams, and put together an unbeaten run to be crowned champions with an emphatic 61-36 win over St Peter’s College. If College suffers any injuries during the KZN Top 10, they won’t be short of quality replacements.
At St John’s, the tournament’s 2023 winners, St Charles College, did their basketball heritage proud. Along with St Stithians and King Edward VII (KES), they were the only team to exit the group stage of the competition with a clean record, recording wins over St Alban’s, Parktown Boys’ High, and St George’s (Harare).
Their title challenge ended in the quarterfinals, where they were beaten by the eventual champion, Michael Mount, who also halted KES’s unbeaten run in the semi-finals.
St Charles, ultimately, ended seventh overall after a 43-34 win over St Stithians College.
Hilton College, who fell 44-52 to St John’s in a play-in clash, went on to finish in 12th place, while Michaelhouse placed 16th after going down 28-34 to Jeppe. ‘House won’t be happy with that. They’ve performed at a higher level this season, and they’ll be eager to reproduce that form in their home province. Hilton, too, will have higher aspirations.
That leaves Clifton College and Glenwood, who have been a step behind the aforementioned eight teams in 2026. The level of competition in KZN is, arguably, the highest in the country. It’s going to be a tough challenge for the Durban duo, who will likely battle it out for ninth place.
When they met earlier this month, Glenwood won 42-38. That suggests that a tight contest awaits between the pair should they meet. If they don’t, one of those teams will have pulled off a shock result.
FIXTURES
Friday, 27 February
St Charles vs Hilton, 14:00 (Game 1)
Maritzburg College vs Michaelhouse, 14:00 (Game 2)
Westville vs Northwood, 15:15 (Game 3)
Glenwood vs DHS, 15:15 (Game 4)
Clifton vs St Charles, 16:30 (Game 5)
Maritzburg College vs Kearsney, 16:30 (Game 6)
Saturday, 28 March
Hilton vs Westville, 09:00 (Game 7)
Glenwood vs Michaelhouse, 09:00 (Game 8)
Northwood vs Clifton, 10:15 (Game 9)
DHS vs Kearsney, 10:15 (Game 10)
St Charles vs Westville, 11:30 (Game 11)
Maritzburg College vs Glenwood, 11:30 (Game 12)
Hilton vs Northwood, 12:45 (Game 13)
Michaelhouse vs DHS, 12:45 (Game 14)
Clifton vs Westville, 14:00 (Game 15)
Glenwood vs Kearsney, 14:00 (Game 16)
St Charles vs Northwood, 15:15 (Game 17)
Maritzburg College vs DHS, 15:15 (Game 18)
Hilton vs Clifton, 16:30 (Game 19)
Michaelhouse vs Kearsney, 16:30 (Game 20)
Sunday, 1 March
A3 vs B4, 09:00 (Game 21)
B3 vs A4, 09:00 (Game 22)
A1 vs B2, 10:15 (Game 23)
B1 vs A2, 10:15 (Game 24)
A5 vs B5 (9/10) 11:30 (Game 25)
L21 vs L22 (7/8), 11:30 (Game 26)
L23 vs L23 (3/4), 12:45 (Game 27)
W21 vs W22 (5/6) 12:45 (Game 28)
W23 vs W24 (1/2) 14:00 (Game 29)
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