PE crowned Top Schools champions

Mutare Boys 28-27 in the finals at Queen Elizabeth School yesterday.
The tournament, which caters for both boys and girls, started on Saturday with 21 schools from different provinces taking part.
Prince Edward put up a spirited performance to beat the defending champions in a tightly contested match that was decided in the last minutes of the game.

Warren Tegama scored 12 points to inspire his side to victory while Josiah Sachiti weighed in with seven points.
For Mutare, Shingi Mukundu scored 10 points while Jimmy Makanjera weighed in with eight and Bothwell Mashava contributed six but it was not enough for them to defend their title.
Earlier on Prince Edward had beaten Victoria High in the semi-finals 45-20 while Mutare overpowered Churchill 34-31 to progress to the finals. Prince Edward coach, Tapuwa Mungunyana, was pleased with his charges’ performance.

“Mutare (players) are bigger in size so we had to rely on closing the guards and making sure each time they attack we get the ball. We had good offensive players in Josiah Sachiti, Warren Tegama and Dexter Ganga and we knew that the offensive side was okay, we have naturally talented players.
“The boys came through, we injected a defensive approach to the game knowing we can attack,” said Mungunyana.

In the girls category Roosevelt defended their title when they beat Girls High 34-31 in the finals.
Their coach, Tawanda Chitsinde, paid tribute to his players for their spirited efforts.

“My girls worked hard from the preparations up to the finals.
“I am happy because most of them still have three to four years to play.
“This year the competition was stiff from the group stages and it’s improving. It was more competitive than last year. However, the problem is that we only have this tournament once a year. If we have more

tournaments like this our basketball will improve,” said Chitsinde.
Basketball Union of Zimbabwe director of competitions, Simon Lawson, was impressed with this year’s competition.

“I am impressed with the quality of competition, both boys and girls have shown that a lot of work is being done in the schools. For boys it was not easy. For the girls I was impressed with St James High, who won their first match, and Chinhoyi, and both teams qualified for the quarter-finals which is a great achievement.

“The development coming from other provinces is very high. The event is coming up and growing well,” said Lawson.
Lawson called on the national association to come on board and assist the coaches working with the schools on the technical side as the players are working hard to improve their game.

Prince Edward’s Tegama and Cha-mwarura from Roosevelt were voted the most valuable players and top scorers for the boys’ and girls’ divisions.
The winning schools walked away with US$150 and a trophy each while the second and third placed teams got US$100 and US$75 and a shield respectively.