Kearsney celebrates Tournament victory and Selection success

Kearsney won the Northwood Knights Stayers Tournament

Kearsney’s 1st water polo team participated in the Northwood Knights Stayers Tournament at the weekend, this time without the 2024 Matrics, which gave new players the opportunity to showcase their talents. The team emerged victorious, beating Affies 3-2 in a low-scoring final.

This marks the second consecutive weekend that Kearsney’s 1st team has won a tournament, having won the coveted Top 10 tournament the previous weekend. The team heads to the Saints Stayers Tournament in Johannesburg this week.

At the Northwood tournament, Kearsney won all their games, beating Westville Boys’ 9-2, Reddam House Umhlanga 11-1, St Charles 17-0, Glenwood 10-3, Northwood 5-3 and Durban High School 6-3.

In the quarter final Kearsney beat Clifton College 5-3 and beat Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) 3-2 in the final.   

Michaelhouse 1st team lost to Kearsney 1st team 38-51

Kearsney travelled to Michaelhouse for the weekend's basketball fixtures. This 1st team fixture, played at Balgowan, has become a bit of a hoodoo for Kearsney’s 1st team, which has not won there in quite some time.

Michaelhouse were firm favourites going into the match, having beaten DHS the previous week. Right from the start they took command and looked to again dominate the visitors. They had a 11-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, with Kearsney finding it difficult to find their range on the unfamiliar court.

The second quarter was a brutal affair with Michaelhouse camping in a 2-3 zone. Both teams found it difficult to score, but Kearsney kept at it, slowly chipping away at the lead. At half-time the teams swopped sides with Michaelhouse up 21-18.

Kearsney changed gears after the break and found their range, shooting from outside to make a few three-point shots. They took the lead and never looked like they would surrender it, going into the final quarter with an 11-point lead, 39-28.

Kearsney played some great defence and managed to frustrate the Michaelhouse players’ scoring ability. The visitors continued to play hard and did not allow Michaelhouse back into the game, to secure a 51-38.

Top performers
Kearsney: Pabatso Sithole 14 points; Daniel Prinsloo 8; James Hastings-Brown and Sibongokuhle Miya
Michaelhouse: Lufuno Kanyongolo 16 points; Ziyanda Hlongwa 11

Cricket
The following Kearsney cricketers have been selected for provincial Dolphins teams:
U15: (Blue) Aron Blackburn, Matthew Gorrie; (Green) Gary Verbaan, Asher Hollister: U16: Bonga Maphanga, Keegan de Jager, Litha Gonya; U18: Ross Coetzee; Sandiswa Yeni.
Kearsney staff selections are Cameron Gordon as head coach of U15 Boys (Blue) and Jody Saayman as head coach of U15 Boys (Green).

Tennis
The following Kearsney boys have been selected for KZN teams to play in the 2025 IPT in January:
KZN U18A: Finn Coningham, Angus Fyvie; KZN U18B: Max East (reserve); KZN U15B: Noah Haskell.

Water polo
Kearsney’s outstanding water polo season has been capped with the following players selected to KZN teams:
KZN U14: Cristiano Sandri, Dru Mills; U14B: Cruz Reynolds; Non-travelling reserve: Sean Mwanjira; KZN U15: James Whatmore, Max Mills, Reece York; Non-travelling reserves: Clement Makelele, Mcebisi Zulu; KZN U16: Thomas Aylward, Oliver Ludwig, Levi Thom; Non-travelling reserve: Rourke Stacey; KZN U19A: James Pohl, Luca Sandri; KZN U19B: Robert Smith.

Kearsney grade 9 pupil Harry Hughes represented South Africa as a Junior Protea at the recent World Skeet Shooting Championships held in San Antonio, Texas. He won three class gold medals and one class bronze medal.