The annual Inanda Hoops Classic Challenge takes place from Thursday to Sunday at St David’s Marist Inanda, with competition in the U12, U15, and U18 age groups.
In the U18 division, King Edward VII School (KES) is the defending champion.
They went undefeated throughout the 2025 tournament, defeating St Benedict’s College in the final, whom they had also beaten during the group stage. Both will be among the title contenders this time around.
On Saturday, KES defeated Jeppe High School for Boys 60-22, exhibiting good form. They’ll contest Pool E at the Inanda Hoops Classic Challenge, alongside Jeppe, Crawford International (Sandton), and Grey High School.
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St Benedict’s College has enjoyed a productive year in 2026 and won the Kearsney Independent Schools Stayers’ Basketball Tournament in September, defeating St Stithians College, the 2024 Inanda Hoops winner, in the final.
Bennies takes on Hilton College, Parktown Boys’ High, and Sacred Heart College in Pool B.
The tournament hosts, St David’s, who were eliminated in last year’s quarterfinals by Michael Mount Waldorf School after impressing in the group games, are in Pool A, where they will take on Kearsney College, St Andrew’s College, and The King’s School Linbro Park.
Pool D should deliver cracking competition. It features Maritzburg College, perennially one of the country’s leading teams, St Stithians College, Michael Mount, and St Dunstan’s College.
The Red, Black, and White suffered a 53-55 defeat at Westville Boys’ High over the past weekend, and they’ll be keen to show that was a blip on an otherwise sterling 2026 campaign, which has included winning the inaugural KZN Top 10 Basketball Championship. In that event, they were upset by Kearsney College, who beat them 60-56 in pool play, but, when facing the same opposition in the final, they romped to a 78-38 victory. College had won the Jenny Orchard Invitational trophy by defeating ESCA in the final a week earlier.
St Stithians College and Michael Mount are established basketball powers, and that makes Pool D intriguing.
In a low-scoring game, St John’s College went down to St David’s on Saturday. They’ll aim to make amends when they take on Pretoria Boys High, Michaelhouse, and the Inanda Invitational Team in Pool C.
While St John’s went down 27-34 against St David’s, Boys High fell 33-54 against St Stithians, but Michaelhouse edged out Durban High School (DHS) 41-39.
GROUPS
Pool A: Kearsney College, St David’s Marist Inanda, St Andrew’s College, The King’s School Linbro
Pool B: St Benedict’s College, Hilton College, Parktown Boys’ High, Sacred Heart College
Pool C: St John’s College, Pretoria Boys High, Michaelhouse, Inanda Invitational
Pool D: Maritzburg College, St Stithians College, Michael Mount Waldorf, St Dunstan’s College
Pool E: King Edward VII School (KES), Jeppe High School for Boys, Crawford International (Sandton), Grey High School
FIXTURES
Thursday, 22 October
11:20
Court A – Pool A – St David’s vs King’s Linbro
Court B – Pool B – Hilton vs Parktown Boys’ High
Court C – Pool C – Pretoria vs Michaelhouse
Court D – Pool B – St Benedict’s vs Sacred Heart
Court E – Pool D – St Stithians College vs St Dunstan’s
Court G – Pool C – Inanda Invitational vs St John’s College
12:40
Court A – Pool E – KES VS Crawford
Court B – Pool A – Kearsney vs St Andrew’s College
Court D – Pool D – Maritzburg College vs Michael Mount
Court F – Pool E – Grey High vs Jeppe
15:20
Court A – Pool B – Hilton vs St Benedict’s
Court B – Pool C – Michaelhouse vs St John’s College
Court D – Pool C – Pretoria vs Inanda Invitational
Court E – Pool B – Parktown Boys’ High vs Sacred Heart
Court G – Pool D – St Dunstan’s vs Michael Mount
16:40
Court A – Pool A – St David’s vs Kearnsey
Court B – Pool A – King’s Linbro vs St Andrew’s
Court C – Pool D – St Stithians College vs Maritzburg College
Court E – Pool E – KES vs Grey High
Court F – Pool E – Crawford vs Jeppe
Friday, 23 October
08:00
Court F – Pool C – Michaelhouse vs Inanda
09:20
Court A – Pool D – Michael Mount vs St Stithians College
Court B – Pool D St Dunstan’s vs Maritzburg College
Court F – Pool C – St John’s College vs Pretoria Boys High
10:40
Court A – Pool E – Jeppe vs KES
Court B – Pool E – Crawford vs Grey High
Court C – Pool B – Sacred Heart vs Hilton College
Court D – Pool B – Parktown Boys’ High vs St Benedict’s
Court F – Pool A – St Andrew’s College vs St David’s
Court G – Pool A – King’s Linbro vs Kearsney College
Knockout Stages: Top 16 Game
14:20
Court G – One 1 vs 16
15:40
Court E – Six – 7 vs 10
Court F – Seven – 3 vs 14
Court F – Eight – 6 vs 11
16:40
Court A – Two – 8 vs 9
Court B – Three – 4 vs 13
Court C – Four – 5 vs 12
Court D – Five – 2 vs 15
Saturday, 24 October
Quarterfinals
10:30
Court A – QF1 – Winners Top Sixteen – 1 vs 2
Court B – QF2 – Winners Top Sixteen – 3 vs 4
Court C – QF3 – Winners Top Sixteen – 5 vs 6
Court D – QF4 – Winners Top Sixteen – 7 vs 8
Classification Games: Top 16 Losers
15:00
Court A – Losers Top Sixteen – 1 vs 2
Court B – Losers Top Sixteen – 3 vs 4
Court C – Losers Top Sixteen – 5 vs 6
Court D – Losers Top Sixteen – 7 vs 8
Classification Game – 17-20
15:00
Court E – 17 vs 20
Court F – 18 vs 19
Semifinals
16:30
Court A – Winners – QF1 vs QF2
Court B – Winners – QF3 vs QF4
U19 Quarterfinals Losers
16:30
Court C – Losers QF – 1 vs 2
Court D – Losers QF – 3 vs 4
Sunday, 25 October
U19 Positional Games
10:20
Court A – 7 vs 8
Court B – 9 vs 10
Court C – 11 vs 12
Court D – 13 vs 14
Court E – 15 vs 16
Court F – 17 vs 18
Court G – 19 vs 20
U19 Positional Games
11:40
Court C – Bronze Playoff
Court D – Position 5 vs 6
13:00
Court A – Final
