1 October 2025
(Feature photo, courtesy of Ndaramo Sithole, Kearsney College)
Kearsney College‘s 1st basketball team captured the Independent Schools Stayers’ Basketball Tournament title in a nail-biting final on Monday at The SportZone, edging out St John’s College 57-56 after two periods of overtime.
There was further title success for Kearsney when the u14A water polo team won the Rondebosch Boys’ High Tournament.
BASKETBALL
If there is anything better than winning a prestigious tournament at home, it is winning a prestigious tournament at home after reversing an earlier loss to a team in the final, and that’s exactly what Kearsney did, beating St John’s 57-56. Their earlier loss to St John’s, by a 39-46 margin, was their only defeat on their way to claiming the trophy.
Pabatso Sithole has been a standout performer for Kearsney all year long and he brought his best to the final, scoring 26 points for the champs, including the title-winning free throw with only three seconds remaining.
St Benedict’s, beaten 47-42 by Kearsney in the semi-finals, rolled to a comfortable 56-25 win over St David’s Marist Inanda in the third-place playoff.
St Charles was the second highest finisher among the KZN schools, downing Michaelhouse 52-40 to claim fifth place.
Seventh went to Hilton College, who edged out The King’s School Linbro Park 42-40, while St Alban’s finished ninth after a 47-36 win over St Stithians.
St Peter’s scored a 47-36 victory over Kingswood to take eleventh place, and Bishops sneaked a 24-22 win over Clifton to end thirteenth.
RESULTS
Friday, 26 September
Pool A
Michaelhouse 43-23 Clifton College
St Benedict’s College 38-34 St Stithians College
Hilton College 62-29 Clifton College
St David’s 42-24 Michaelhouse
Pool B
Kearsney College 46-39 St Charles College
King’s Linbro 49-31 St Peter’s College
St Alban’s College 56-10 Bishops Diocesan College
St John’s College 63-40 St Charles College
Saturday, 27 September
Pool A
Kingswood College 43-38 Clifton College
St Benedict’s College 41-37 Hilton College
St Stithians College 46-29 St David’s
Hilton College 43-24 Michaelhouse
St Benedict’s College 60-35 Kingswood College
St David’s 50-20 Clifton College
St Stithians College 57-19 Kingswood College
St Benedict’s College 38-34 St David’s
St Stithians College 52-25 Clifton College
Michaelhouse 59-29 Kingswood College
Pool B
St Peter’s College 35-17 Bishops Diocesan College
St John’s College 46-39 Kearsney College
St Alban’s College 37-18 St Peter’s College
St Charles College 46-45 King’s Linbro
St John’s College 51-18 Bishops Diocesan College
Kearsney College 59-48 St Alban’s College
St Charles College 47-St Peter’s College
King’s Linbro 43-42 Kearsney College
St John’s College 56-33 St Peter’s College
St Charles College 65-14 Bishops Diocesan College
Sunday, 29 September
Pool A
St David’s 44-27 Kingswood College
Hilton College 59-55 St Stithians College
St Benedict’s College 36-33 Michaelhouse
Hilton College 60-27 Kingswood College
Michaelhouse 46-42 St Stithians College
St Benedict’s College 24-16 Clifton College
St David’s 39-30 Hilton College
Pool B
King’s Linbro 37-32 St Alban’s College
Kearsney College 66-26 Bishops Diocesan College
St Alban’s College 44-43 St John’s College
King’s Linbro 52-20 Bishops Diocesan College
St Charles College 52-48 St Alban’s
Kearsney College 43-27 St Peter’s College
St John’s College 44-33 King’s Linbro
Semifinals
Kearsney College 47-42 St Benedict’s College
St John’s College 48-41 St David’s
Playoffs
St Stithians College 39-35 St Peter’s College
St Alban’s College 57-19 Kingswood College
Monday
Playoffs
St Charles College 47-43 Hilton College
Michaelhouse 50-37 King’s Linbro
13/14
Bishops Diocesan College 24-22 Clifton College
11/12
St Peter’s College 47-36 Kingswood College
9/10
St Alban’s College 48-42 St Stithians College
7/8
Hilton College 42-40 King’s Linbro
5/6
St Charles College 52-40 Michaelhouse
3/4
St Benedict’s College 56-25 St David’s
1/2
Kearsney 57-56 St John’s
WATER POLO
u14
Much like their basketball counterparts, Kearsney’s u14A water polo team had to demonstrate strong character to reverse an earlier defeat against their opponents in the final of the Rondebosch tournament, SACS.
They were well beaten by SACS in their opening game, going down 4-9, but they scored a convincing 8-5 win in the final.
Kearsney also edged out Wynberg Boys’ High 11-10 in the semi-finals and Bishops 7-6 in the quarterfinals, which showed off their BMT.
In other matches, they beat Rondebosch 8-3, Affies 7-0, Grey High 3-2, and Grey College 6-4.
1st Team
The Kearsney 1st team was, meanwhile, in action at the Clifton Water Polo Tournament, facing a top-quality field from around the country.
They topped Pool B, beating Northwood 12-11, Paul Roos 13-10, and Grey College 14-0.
They were on song in the quarterfinals, comfortably cruising to a 13-4 win over Selborne College. In the semi-finals, though, a Hilton College blitz in the opening chukka pretty much decided the game. Hilton led 6-2 at its end and went on to a 12-6 victory, on their way to lifting the title.
Kearsney faced Clifton College in the third-place playoff. There was never much in it, but Clifton held a slight advantage for most of the contest, eventually winning 9-7.
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