Hilton College will take on Rondebosch Boys’ High in the boys’ final, and the hosts, St Stithians Girls’ College, will defend their title against Clarendon on Sunday, the final day of the Saints Invitational Water Polo Tournament.
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In the boys’ pool stage of the competition, Hilton and Bosch topped their groups and comfortably progressed to the playoffs.
Hilton met their KZN rivals, Kearsney College, in the quarterfinals and impressed with a 14-8 victory, while Rondebosch cruised to a 13-2 win over Affies.
In a nail-biting clash, St Stithians eliminated Bishops, the favourites, 3-2 in a penalty shootout after their clash had finished 6-6 in regulation time. St Andrew’s College, meanwhile, edged out St John’s College 7-6.
Both Rondebosch and Hilton had to dig deep against quality opposition in their semi-final clashes.
Rondebosch took on Saints and, after a slow start, finished the match strongly to score a nervy 10-7 win. St Andrew’s pushed Hilton hard, but it proved to be a bridge too far for the Makhanda side, and Hilton’s class prevailed as they won 7-5 to book themselves a place in Sunday’s title game.
Both finalists carry unbeaten records into the final. They’ll head into the match with the hope of capturing the prestigious trophy with one last victory.
In the girls’ section, it was business as usual for St Stithians, while KuGompo City’s Clarendon continued to make waves.
After beating Durban Girls’ College (DGC) and Herschel Girls School on day one, Clarendon marched into the last eight by adding wins over Crawford Lonehill and St Peter’s.
They claimed another scalp in the quarterfinals, beating Reddam House Constantia to book a semifinal berth against St Anne’s DSG, who had beaten Collegiate Girls’ High.
It was Clarendon’s toughest assignment yet, but coach Hannah Muller‘s side pulled through and sealed a thrilling 7-6 win in a match that went down to the wire.
St Stithians, on the other hand, cruised through the group stage and looked almost untouchable.
They continued their unbeaten run in the quarterfinals, defeating a resilient Reddam House Bedfordview 5-3 before outplaying DGC 6-2 in the semifinals.
Those results left DGC facing St Anne’s in a KwaZulu-Natal derby for the bronze medal, while DSG Makhanda and Reddam House Constantia will play for fifth position.
The girls’ final takes place at 12:30 in the Saints Olympic Pool, followed by the boys’ final at 13:40.
Results
Saturday, 24 October
BOYS
5th-12th Place Playoffs
Kearsney 12-9 Michaelhouse
Reddam Constantia 4-9 St Andrew’s
Affies (3) 7-7 (2) Grey High
St Stithians (3) 6-6 (2) SACS
13th-20th Place Playoffs
St Benedict’s 10-9 Jeppe
St Peter’s (2) 7-7 (1) Pretoria Boys High
KES 10-3 St David’s
DHS 8-5 Woodridge
Quarterfinals
Rondebosch 13-2 Affies
St Stithians (4) 6-6 (3) Bishops
Hilton College 14-8 Kearsney
St Andrew’s 7-6 St John’s
17th-20th Place Playoffs
St David’s 5-4 Jeppe
Pretoria Boys High 10-7 Woodridge
9th-12th Place Playoffs
Grey High 12-8 Michaelhouse
SACS 12-7 Reddam Constantia
13th-16th Place Playoffs
KES 14-7 St Benedict’s
DHS 10-6 St Peter’s
5th-8th Place Playoffs
Bishops 12-3 Affies
Kearsney 13-7 St John’s
Semifinals
Rondebosch 10-7 St Stithians
Hilton College 7-5 St Andrew’s
GIRLS
5th-12th Place Play-offs
DGC (2) 4-4 (1) Pearson
Reddam Bedfordview 8-7 Herschel
Collegiate 6-3 Kingswood
Reddam Constantia 4-2 St Mary’s Waverley
13th-20th Place Playoffs
St Peter’s 15-4 Beaulieu College
Kingsmead 17-1 Crawford Lonehill
Danville Park 6-5 St Dominic’s
Roedean 4-3 Woodridge
Quarterfinals
St Anne’s 6-4 Collegiate
Clarendon 7-4 Reddam Constantia
DGC 9-6 DSG
St Stithians 5-3 Reddam Bedfordview
17th-20th Place Playoffs
St Dominic’s 8-5 Beaulieu College
Woodridge 12-2 Crawford Lonehill
9th-12th Place Playoffs
Pearson 8-6 Kingswood
Herschel 10-9 St Mary’s Waverley
13th-16th Place Playoffs
St Peter’s 17-5 Danville Park
Kingsmead 7-6 Roedean
5th-8th Place Playoffs
Reddam Constantia 8-6 Collegiate
DSG 5-1 Reddam Bedfordview
Semifinals
Clarendon 7-6 St Anne’s
St Stithians 6-2 DGC
