South Island Senior Secondary School Championships

The Senior side headed to Invercargill for third tournament for many involved it was a relief to have the event proceed after cancellations over past couple of years.

With 2 games scheduled for each day of the tournament it was a tough schedule and the path through pool play was crucial, both for results and also to get entire team minutes to ensure as a team heading into playoffs they were firing.

Day 1 started with a comfortable victory over John McGlashan College and after a long wait until the final game of the day, St Bede's accounted for Christchurch Boys' High in a scrappy game to finish the day 2-0.

Into the second day with the first match being against a strong Rolleston College however St Bede’s rose to the occasion and came away with the victory to maintain their unbeaten run. Later in the day the bench got extended minutes against Ashburton College cruising to victory and topping the pool with a 4-0 record.

Shirley Boys' had a similar record and the battle of the unbeaten sides unfolded on Friday morning. Previous encounters this season against Shirley have been closely contested and initially this clash was no exception however Bede's stepped up a gear during the 3rd quarter and continued this momentum as the game closed out and won impressively to finish top of pool.

Unfortunately the side stumbled against Cashmere in the quarter final with Cashmere in hot shooting form throughout the match and handing St Bede's their first loss of the tournament.

Despite the disappointment of finishing a spot in the semi-finals the team had to regroup ahead of the crucial playoff game against Otago Boys' the following day.

Spot on the line at Nationals and chance for redemption as Otago Boys' ended Nationals hopes in 2019.

The team dug deep, including a highlight play which saw players sprawled over different parts of the court and ending in a crucial layup for Bede's. The lads closed out the match to win 87-80 to clinch 6th place, equaling the highest ever finish for St Bede's at the South Island Tournament.

This placing locked in a spot at Nationals in Palmerston North early October, qualifying for the national event via this format for the first time since 2011. Our 2020 team also qualified for Nationals but under a different format due to the presence of COVID but unfortunately couldn't attend.

Back into training for the lads this week as we expect to come up against some formidable opponents at this prestigious event and you may also see some fundraising ventures to allow this experience to happen and your support would be appreciated.

Massive effort by players, coaches, management and supporters to achieve this goal – an incredible performance and one much has been several years in the planning.

It is likely that St Bede’s will face some of the powerhouse NZ basketball schools at Nationals and will embrace the challenge as they strive for success.

With the Senior qualifying for the National tournament the Alumni game scheduled for Sunday 26th September will be postponed until a later date.

The End of Season Celebration for the entire club will still take place from 4pm at the Performing Arts Centre.

Junior Tournament 2022 was held in Nelson at Saxton Stadium.

We were excited that it was still able to be held given mother nature's weather bomb. Juniors from Secondary schools around the South Island gathered to showcase their year 9 &10 basketballers and after a few years of not running due to  COVID it was extra special.

SBC Junior squad began with a tough pool and our first 2 games of the tournament were against Nelson & Kaiapoi - two very strong teams which saw us with two losses on day one, however the mahi bought by the team was exceptional and for many lads their first time at a tournament, it was a good day. With reflection and having had a day of learnings, the next days the lads took to the court and fought hard taking 2 wins and they worked as a team, and it took all 10 of them to take the wins. Our final day of play saw us playing for 9th or 10th vs Hillmorton School and we had some passionate play with high foul counts and the team took a hard-fought loss. Ranking 10th out of 18 teams.
Tournaments are amazing for growth as a team and for players both physically & mentally and the development of the team was fantastic. Led by Tom Hughes with assistant coach Caleb Conyers, teacher in charger Grant McKenzie & Manager Brenda Martin. Not forgetting our amazing whānau supporters who came & supported us all.
The team give thanks to everyone for making this opportunity possible.
St Bede's Basketball club is excited by the depth & growth of our junior players coming through.
GO BEDE'S 🏀❤🖤❤🏀