Roosevelt Girls’ High School sneaked past their local rivals Girls’ High School (Harare) 34-31 to successfully defend their title at the annual National Association of Secondary Heads (Nash) Top Schools Under-20 Basketball Championships on Sunday.
Roosevelt, who won last year’s edition, finished the tournament unbeaten after winning all their pool matches before dumping Queen Elizabeth 27-13 in the semi-finals.
In the men’s category, defending champions Mutare Boys’ High School, were denied a second consecutive title after they were edged 27-28 by Prince Edward who atoned for their semi-final exit in last year’s tournament in Bulawayo.
In the semi-finals Mutare Boys’ High had knocked out favourites Churchill 34-31 in a repeat of last year’s final while Prince Edward had dismissed Victoria High School 45-20.
For winning the coveted title Roosevelt Girls’ walked away with a trophy and US$100, while runners-up, Queen Elizabeth School also received a trophy and $50 which was the same in the men’s category for Prince Edward and Mutare Boys’ High Sharon Chamwarura of Roosevelt Girls’ High School and Warren Chegama of Prince Edward were chosen as the most outstanding players of the tournament in their respective categories.
The head of the Nash Thompson Katanda hailed the Nash Top Schools Basketball tournament and described it as a success.
“Despite the last minute arrangements of the tournament, the end result was excellent as there were no problems encountered during the games,” he said.
Katanda stressed tournaments are meant to empower youngsters and expose talent within schoolchildren which in turn help them to advance in their sporting careers.
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Basketball Union of Zimbabwe director of competitions Simon Lawson said: “The level of competition among the teams was very high and in the men’s category there was an improvement in terms of the size of the players unlike in previous years.
“However the only setback was the timing of the tournament where some kids missed the tournament as they are preparing for their end-of-year examinations, but generally, the tournament was very well organised,” said Lawson.
