The Senior side ventured across town last night to Middleton Grange to take on competition front runners Christ's College in the Thomson Trophy semi final.

Buoyed once again by a local, vocal crowd the team was looking to upset their more vaunted rivals and advance to the competition showpiece next week.

Christ's began the match strongly jumping out to an early 13-5 lead before Bede's settled into some rhythm and despite trailing at quarter time had managed to wrestle some control from Christ''s.

The second quarter produced a sublime display from St Bede's as they outplayed their opponents in every aspect. In what was possibly their best quarter of action all season, Bede's took out the quarter 35-10 and headed into the break with the lead

Based on the calibre of their opponent they were certainly going to respond and Christ's started the second stanza in a similar fashion to the first half and began to erode the deficit.

As the final 10 minutes got underway St Bede's held a slender 4 point lead with Christ's once again starting strongly and gaining the lead early with landing some crucial 3s.

The Bede's line up continued to remain within striking distance however Christ's executed well down the stretch and closed out the match to win 89-82.

Despite the disappointment immediately following the final whistle the team can be immensely proud of nearly securing an upset victory and of their overall Thomson Trophy season finishing in top 4 of what is widely considered one of the top school competitions in the country.

James Leen was massive for Bede's with 29 points on 12/23 shooting, with Lochie McLean (15) and Cooper Siave (10) chipping in.

Focus for the team now turns to a club U20 semi final against Gators this weekend and then on to South Island tournament which gets underway in 2 weeks.

The U20 semi-final is set down for 3pm at Cowles and the team would appreciate your continued support.

U17 Red

Last Saturday saw the U17Red team play their last game of the season vs Christchurch Boys' High. The game started slowly with the boys not being able to find their pace and mistakes kept happening. The opposition took advantage of the defence mistakes and ended the first quarter 19 points ahead. The second and third quarter didn’t see great improvement with the boys finding hard to impose their game. The final quarter saw a completely different team on court. The boys really stepped up and brought the game they got us used to during the season. After a very tense last five minutes, the U17Red brought home the win! 88-84 final score.

U15 Rangers

The St Bede’s Rangers had a great season and were hoping to top off with a final win. The boys had never faced St Thomas’ but were eager to rise to the occasion. The game started perfectly with a 21-0 lead after the first quarter. Their defence intensity was phenomenal and their ability to execute on the other end was flawless.

The Second quarter was much the same extending the lead to 49 points before the half only allowing 10 points.

A slower second half with trading baskets with the opposition, even though the intensity never changed.

A well-deserved win to top the season off and the boys can hold their heads high on what they have accomplished and how much they have developed.

U15 Bedeans

This week the U15 St Bedes Bedeans came up against St Thomas on their home ground.

Our boys went out with confidence and belief in themselves, and what a great way to finish the season with a WIN 56-47.

Working together on the court, our baskets fell when needed, with some fantastic shots made from all our players. Our defence could have benn better over the whole game but came into effect when it really counted.

A huge thank you to our coaches, Max and Connor. We look forward to the next season.

The Junior & Senior teams continue to prepare for tournament and will share further updates next week and provide links to keep up to date with their results.

Reminder to lock in 25 September for the Alumni game in the gym at 2pm followed by End of Season celebration at PAC. All players, officials, families and supporters welcome to join us to finish the season in style and celebrate all that is great about St Bede's Basketball.

Pleased to announce the lucky winners of the Basketball Club raffle, with 3 people winning a wheelbarrow crammed with goodies.

The winners are:
#152 Selina Alison
#280 Ned O'Sullivan
#570 Sally McKinnon

Thanks to Belinda Leen & Matthew Yates for coordinating the raffle and also thanks to Dan & Meg from Southern Collective for sponsoring the wheelbarrows and Steve & Aimee from McLean Drilling for their part in making the prizes even better.