Over the first four days of September, the Nayland College Junior A Basketball team competed in the South Island Secondary Schools Basketball competition held in Nelson. Teams from schools from all around the South Island made their way up to the top!

Nayland College boys played some outstanding Basketball throughout the tournament and found themselves playing in the final for the ‘A’ grade. The boys fought incredibly hard but were unable to end the season with the win, losing to Riccarton High School in the final 75-60. In the Premiership grade Saint Thomas of Canterbury College easily bet Shirley Boys High School.

Max McGeady from the team said the part he enjoyed the most was to see the team extremely happy with their great results especially after a tough season.

“I loved the culture our team had at the tournament, never giving up and always believing in one another. I also enjoyed ‘spraying champagne’ (grape juice) after the medal ceremony. Awesome way to end the season!

Throughout the season the boys only won one game.

“It was extremely tough, we always had our heads up and worked that much harder at trainings. We even came very close to taking the win over some of the teams.”

The boys went through to qualify for the tournament final with a 5-0 record meaning they won all 5 games in a row.

“It was absolutely incredible.”

The boys had incredibly close games between Kaiapoi High School, Mount Hutt College and John McGlashan College.

 “Luckily the games went our way! We all stayed together between games and got really pumped up! Everyone was that much more confident going into each game.”

“The support was absolutely amazing! Every time we got the ball in the hoop everyone went wild. That support played a huge part in our success. Thanks so much to our coach Andrew Walker for taking the time to assist us in improving our skills and team play. Another real strength is his ability to create an awesome team culture we will never lose.”

“We were so impressed with each other. We really did ourselves and our school proud. Finally, I’d like to thank each and every one of you who made the effort to support us here in Nelson, we really appreciated it. To my team, thanks for being the most amazing people to and share and experience this success with. You guys mean so much to me and we were always looking up no matter the result. Second is much better than last!”

Max McGeady (Student Reporter)