Mkhulu Mashau
Daliwonga High School’s girls basketball team showed why they are the power house in the Soweto High School Basketball League (SHSBL) by beating Dr Beyers Naude 67-45 at Dube Community Hall at the weekend.
The two schools are based in Dube, the reason behind their rivalry, and it is seen not only in basketball but other sporting codes.
Daliwonga have enjoyed being dubbed queens of basketball after winning numerous derbies against Beyers Naude and the other Dube schools.
Daliwonga’s impeccable captain Nocwaka Luke led by example from the middle of the court. She was the toast of her team accounting for 30 of their points in a match which was played at a fast pace.
Daliwonga’s great form comes at a time when officials are preparing for the play-offs to determine the top schools in basketball this year.
Although it’s still early days, there is already a hint that Daliwonga and Dr Beyers Naude’s girls teams would qualify for the 2011 finals.
“Given their consistency since the league started, you can see that both schools have the material to make it to the final,” said SHSBL technical director Henry Nkosi.
In the boys section, Beyers Naude won a non-match against Bona who, although they showed up, could not put a team on the court, handing Beyers Naude the three points on a platter.
Basketball analysts at the venue said Bona would not have beaten in-form Beyers Naude, who had won their two previous encounters.
Nkosi said: “Although Bona did not honour the match, they still qualify for the oncoming play-off on points.”
Bona are second behind Beyers Naude in the boys league.
Meanwhile, Soweto Basketball Association’s (SBA) president Jackie Masenya is finalising preparations for the launch of the first of a series of coaching clinics planned for schools in Molapo, Tladi and Naledi areas commonly known as MOTLANA.
The envisaged clinics will seek to revive basketball in schools in the area as happened in other Soweto townships including, Meadowlands, Tshiawelo, Dube, Orlando East and West, Dlamini, Rockville and Senaoane.