The Junior A Basketball Team had a phenomenal South Island Championships, finishing third overall in their event held locally, earlier this week.

Led by talented Year 10 guard Shanti, this group hit the court running right from the outset and never looked back. Claiming the top spot in pool play after some huge scorelines on day one, setting us up to progress into crossovers:

89 - 24 vs Marian
66 - 30 vs Greymouth
72 - 51 vs Rangiora

Tuesday was quarter-final time and the team was matched up against a classy Wakatipu group. It was an evenly matched first half before Columba pulled away in the 3rd quarter to lead by 30 going into the fourth. 65-49 Columba finished to advance once again.  

Unfortunately for us, the draw had us crossing over with tournament favourites STAC in the semi-final. With nothing to lose and a spot in the final to gain the team was ready to go. Getting some of their key players in foul trouble early helped Columba believe they could foot it with the opposition. After putting on an impressive 40-minute performance, they were unlucky to narrowly lose in a tight tussle 66-76. 

To round out the event the team finished with a 60-49 victory, taking out their playoff game against Hillmorton to claim 3rd overall. 

A special shout out to Shanti who was the top female scorer for the entire competition and led the majority of the male competition too claiming the second top scorer overall across both boy's and girl's grades - An outstanding achievement from a star player. Thank you to our wonderful manager Jen who is always the most organised and supportive person for our students. We could not do this without our fabulous parent volunteers and Jen is an example of someone who gives countless hours to Columba Sport. We appreciate you! 

We would like to give a special mention to Kayla Millar for volunteering to referee the tournament on behalf of Columba. Kayla offers a huge amount of her time to helping others and supporting sport here at our school, both in officiating and coaching. We could not be more grateful for her service and are beyond proud of what she has achieved as a referee in Basketball. Well done!!