Burnside Basketball had another amazing year, as the programme took one more step closer to being the powerhouse it once was.

From a strong showing with 12 social teams entered into the Friday Night Social Competition, to the U17A Boys winning a close one against Hillmorton High School to become the CBA U17A Grade Champions, to the Senior Boys earning coach Adam his first win in the Division 1 Thompson Trophy Competition -  it was an excellent year for Burnside High School Basketball. 

Boys Basketball

U15 Boys

Both of our U15 teams were represented well this year, with huge strides being made in their development as players, while also learning to come together as a team. Along with being named in our U15 B team, George McBridie and Tom Kentish Barnes were also named to that Waitaha Rep Program U13 team, and represented the school well. A big thank you to coaches Jarrod Bothamley, Hugh Dishington and Oscar Nicholson for giving up their time to lead the boys. 

U17 Boys 

Coach Jamie Wright led our U17 Boys Green team in a fantastic season where they began as a team of individuals, finishing as one solid unit. 

Coach Shaun London did an excellent job as well with the other U17 team leading them to a Saturday Competition Championship. Their final was played against the Hillmorton Gators in an overtime thriller, with Brooklyn Menedenz being named Finals Most Valuable Player. In addition to Finals MVP, Brooklyn along with Jack Hollingworth and Jett Nicholson were named in the Waitaha U15 Reo squads, and Jett Nicholson was selected in the A group that went to Auckland to represent Canterbury in the National Competition. Great job boys!

Senior Boys

The Senior Boys made the most of a rebuilding year led by Oscar Nicholson and Stephen Li. The boys had some great wins, one of the most exciting involving a buzzer beater in overtime by Lorenz Torres, after being down 25 points to a Gators squad during a Saturday competition game. The team finished the season off by representing the school in the College Park Tournament with some great wins, including the last game of the season where they knocked off Rolleston College in a thriller on Rolleston's home court. Oscar Nicholson was also recently named to the Waitaha U19 team. 

Coach Adam Morgan was aided by team physio and assistant coach Brad Robinson, as well as helped by Hugh Dishington, Jamie Wright, Shaun London, and Gilbert Gordon. Fleur Truscott was an outstanding addition to the coaching team acting as the team manager.

Girls Basketball

Junior Girls

Our Girls Junior A team performed very well in the Friday night competition. These strong performances show the promise of our younger players, and we are looking forward to watching and supporting the development of these young ladies, along with the Girls Basketball programme in future years. Our goal is create a Girls Basketball programme that equals, if not rivals the Boys programme in strength. This team were coached by Senior Girls, Althea Torres and Tahlia Perham. 

Rallen Lazo also coached a junior girls team by the name of 'And 1', who played in the Friday Night Social Basketball competition. This team also showed a great deal of promise.

Senior Girls

The Senior Girls had a great season led by senior players Rallen Lazo, Althea Torres and Aylish Kyle. Despite the team facing multiple injury issues, these girls refused to give up. They lead a very young team of girls to some amazing victories during the course of the season, while laying the groundwork and establishing a great culture that should endure for years to come. They were very ably coached by Shahannah Martin and Charise Martin, and supported by Marinda van Vuuren as team manager.

The programme as a whole had an amazing year, re-establishing a winning culture, bringing back the Old Boys game and doing the best it could with what the crazy year of 2020 brought. We look forward to our current off-season training as we strive to get better for next season.

Adam Morgan
Basketball Coordinator