The Dundee High School’s first team pose with the trophy. Pic by Val Adamson
Dundee High School, nicknamed ‘The Smurfs’, retained their title at the Northern KZN Regional of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Fast 5’s Netball Challenge that took place at Hoërskool Pionier on Saturday 16 September.
Dundee met Newcastle High School in the regional final and in an enchanting display, outshone their opponents with some ‘smurftastic’ skills. Getting the game rolling, Dundee had the first centre pass, attacking from the get-go. But Newcastle held strong against the first surge. With a quarter of the first half played, Dundee basketed the opening point, finding some space and capitalising on it.
Throughout the game, the daring Dundee sharp shooters would float in valiant attempts going for 2 points or even being so bold as to try and land the mystical 3 pointer, but sadly, didn’t net these courageous chances having done so in the build up to the final. Dundee were only up by 2 points, with a 3 – 1 lead at the break.
Settling into the stride, both teams favoured different strategies. Newcastle would mostly use the bounce pass into the circle, but their sturdy goal shooter, Anele Mhlanga was left astonished as her noble efforts were constantly halted. The spritely Dundee defenders, Anidswa Zulu and Lonwabo Khumalo closed down several well-crafted attacks, springing up to brilliantly intercept the ball, or neatly nudge Newcastle’s efforts out of play.
The lively defending champs opted for more lofty aerial strikes, looping the ball with pinpoint precision finding their bustling team mates. In a low scoring game, at the conclusion of the 12 minutes energetic encounter, the final score was 6-3 in favour of Dundee High School.
Led by an on-the-ball Captain, Anele Hlatswayo was always in on the action, creating countless turn overs and intercepts for Dundee High as she zipped around the court with gusto. Proudly nestling the trophy at prize giving, Hlatswayo stated, “All the teams played brilliantly today, and we had a great time going up against all of you. To my team, we have put in so much hard work leading up to this tournament. Well done! We can be proud of ourselves.”
Eight teams gathered for the Northern KZN Regional, including two junior teams who were invited to gain valuable experience. In a round robin tournament, 31 games took place, with games lasting 12 minutes, and an appreciated halftime water break after 6 minutes. With a gusty, dry cross breeze on a baking hot day, after 372 lively minutes 417 points were scored in total.
There are only two more regionals remaining in this year’s SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Fast 5’s Netball Challenge, the Midlands Regional getting underway at Voortrekker Hoërskool on Saturday 14 October and then, finally the Durban Coastal Regional which is being held at Danville Park Girls’ High School on Saturday 21 October.
All games will be livestreamed on the SuperSport Schools’ website or mobile app. For more info on the Netball challenge, like the
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Results:
Regional Final
Dundee High School 6 vs Newcastle High School 3
Round Robin Results
1 Dundee High School 21 pts, 2 Hoërskool Ferrum 16 pts, 3 Newcastle High School 13 pts, 4 Hoërskool Pionier 1
st 9 pts, 5 Hoërskool Pionier 2
nd 9 pts, 6 Vryheid High School 1
st 7 pts, 7 Vryheid High School 2
nd 4 pts, Sarel Cilliërs High School 3 pts