It was a busy Basketball season with Burnside High School entering one U20, three U17 and three U15 boys teams in the CBA Saturday competition, a boys team in the Thomson Trophy, a girls team in the Whelan Trophy and nine teams in the Friday night schools' competition.

SENIOR A GIRLS BASKETBALL

The Senior A Girls team had a strong season in Division 2 of the Whelan Trophy (Canterbury Secondary Schools) competition.  They made it to the playoffs of the trophy competition, finishing 3rd in their division.

The team also travelled to Dunedin to compete in the Southern Cup as a part of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Winter Tournament Week. This was a great experience for all the players, for many of the senior players this was the first tournament that they have been able to attend in the last three years, after Covid cancelled Winter Tournament Week two years in a row. The girls played a great tournament, with the team placing 4th. 

Congratulations to Eliza Agnew who was our Whelan Trophy All-Star Player!

SENIOR A BOYS BASKETBALL

In one of the biggest sporting turnarounds this year, the Senior Boys A team proved themselves to be a force to be reckoned with in the Thomson Trophy (Canterbury Secondary Schools) competition. The team went from only winning one game in the last three years to only losing three games this season.  The team made it to the play offs, ultimately placing 3rd.  This is the first time in a number of years that Burnside High School have had a team in the top four of the Thomson Trophy competition. Congratulations to Jack Hollingworth who was the BHS Thomson Trophy All-Star Player.

A slightly modified Senior Boys A team also attended the South Island Secondary Schools’ tournament (also known the Basketball NZ AA Premiership), held over Winter Tournament Week in Invercargill, where they finished up in 13th place, a great result as they drew the hardest pool to qualify for the play offs in. Like the girls it was the first tournament of it's kind in three years so it was fantastic to be able to get our Year 13 players away for this experience before they leave school at the end of the year.

JUNIOR BOYS BASKETBALL

The South Island Secondary Schools' Junior Basketball tournament also took place as part of Winter Tournament Week in Nelson.  We also had a junior (Year 9 & 10) team attend this tournament.  Check out the separate article for a full update from their coach. 

The U15 Black team competed in the Ashburton Exchange against the Ashburton College U15 A team.  They beat the Ashburton team quite convincingly, contributing to Burnside High School retaining the Ashburton Exchange trophy.

FRIDAY NIGHT PROGRAMME

The Friday Night 'Social' Basketball programme continues to go from strength to strength with nine (six Boys and three Girls) teams entered in this year's competition.  

The Canterbury Secondary Schools Friday night competition provides a valuable opportunity for our less competitive players to play with their mates in a fun environment, and it was great to see so many students taking advantage of this opportunity.

Despite the more social nature of this competition, there is still an opportunity to play at a competitive level, and a table is kept for all the grades. Two of our teams placed within their grades - the Year 9A Girls team placed 3rd in the Girls Year 9 Division 1 grade and the Ball Boyz came 3rd in the Division 4 S1 Intermediate grade.

A big thank you to all the student referees who gave up their Friday evenings and refereed the weekly games at the Burnside High School gyms, we couldn't do it without you!