Friday afternoon (9 October 2015), St George’s College 1st team basketball entertained a packed and spirited home court with a thrilling 57-43 victory over cross-town rivals, St John’s College.
The scene was set for a classic game of schoolboy basketball, with one set of bleachers filled with red blazer clad St George’s students chanting war cries, opposite green blazer wearing St John’s boys who were determined to break the twelve-year no-win-drought they have experienced when playing St George’s away.
Before the pace of the game settled, St George’s broke to an early lead in the first half, with back and forth haphazard play and plenty of fouls ending in a 27-14 game in favor of the Dragons at half time. The second half picked up speed, with St George’s dominating play again.
As the players tired, they got increasingly sloppy, missing easy lay-up opportunities and committing unnecessary fouls, and the game’s temperature began to rise. Unfortunately, coaches and players alike started to show indiscipline which the ref struggled to quell; more level-headed players had the added task of keeping teammates calm and focused not on egos, but on play.
St George’s consistently played their starting five, with Tinashe Muchena becoming a force of nature in the second half, dominating the rims with layups while racking up rebounds. In contrast, St John’s coaches decided to take advantage of the depth of their team, subbing most of their bench and rotating players. In the final quarter, the Rams exerted pressure to make a slight comeback in scoring, ending the game by cutting their deficit to 14 points, with a final score of 57-43.
Yesterday’s basketball game was another first for SSN. We live scored the game with our partner Score Stream, a crowd scoring application that allows fans to score as well as add photos and comments. We were pleased to see St John’s headmaster Bill Annandale score along with us today. Download Score Stream on Play Store or the Apple Store and score matches in Zimbabwe along with us.