A sparkling performance by Luthayi High School saw them claim victory in the penultimate netball challenge at the Highway Regional of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Fast 5s Netball Challenge that took place at Hillcrest High School on Saturday 17 September.

 
In the regional final, Luthayi took on Durban Girls’ High School, where they dominated from the get-go. It took 11 seconds for Luthayi to register their first goal, and with a goal a minute, they concluded the game at 16 – 6. 
 
Luthayi gave no room to Girls’ High in the first half, not letting them settle at all. An alert Luthayi defence and midfield were on the ball, intercepting countless times and sending play up to the power house Goal Shooter and captain Aphiwe Thusini, who was camped out directly under the goals and who netted majority of her teams points throughout the day. 

After 8 minutes of play, the scoreline was 8 – 3 at half time. Durban Girls’ High School worked valiantly in the second half, battling to get into their stride and try and find some rhythm as they forced their way into the Luthayi circle but were just unable to capitalise on these opportunities. As they tried to claw their way back into the mix, Girls’ High had to navigate around a livewire Luthayi centre, who drifted all over the court, surprising Girls’ High with some magical pounces as she halted their advances several times.
 
Luthayi concluded their day with a marvellous 16 – 6 win. After the game, Captain for Luthayi High, Aphiwe Thusini said, “It was a really great tournament, the other teams gave us a lot of pressure throughout the day. We are delighted that we managed to win the nail-biter against Curro. They were a hard team to beat.”
 
Former Luthayi High School graduate, and captain for the SPAR Proteas Netball team, Bongiwe Msomi, was announced as the Telkom Woman of the Year at the recent Momentum G-Sports Awards ceremony. Inspired by her hero Msomi, a young Thusini shared, “We are so proud of her and her ongoing achievements. We are raising this trophy up today in her honour.”
 
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the eventual winners, in their semi-final, Luthayi had to grind their way to victory against Curro Hillcrest in an action-packed game that flowed rapidly from side to side. The score was level on 13 each at full time, so the game went to a one minute decider in extra time. Luthayi earned two 1 pointers, while Curro Hillcrest Goal Attack, Taylor Adlam floated in a fantastic 2 point equaliser. After 60 seconds of play, the game was still all tied up at 15 all. Another minute of play gave Luthayi the edge and saw them score the all-important 1 point allowing them the golden ticket to the regional final. 
 
In the bronze medal game, Curro Hillcrest who had left everything on the court in their semi, met Gelofte High School who were firing on all cylinders. Gelofte opened up the scoring and for majority of the game, had the advantage but a late surge by the local team saw Curro come back to a 15 – 14 victory, taking a well-deserved third place. 
 
Rounding off the 2022 challenge is the Midlands’ schools meeting at Voortrekker Hoërskool for the Pietermaritzburg Regional on Saturday 15 October.
 
All games will be live streamed on the SuperSport Schools mobile app or website. For more info like the challenges Facebook page or follow on Instagram. 
 
Medal Games
1 Luthayi High School; 2 Durban Girls’ High School; 3 Curro Hillcrest; 4 Gelofte High School
 
Pool A Results
1 Durban Girls High School 12 points; 2 Curro Hillcrest 9 points; 3 Westville Girls High School 6 points; 4 Indlovukazi Invitational; 5 Ridge Park College 3 points
 
Pool B Results
1 Luthayi High School 12 points; 2 Gelofte High School 9 points; 3 St Henry’s Marist College 6 points; 4 Hillcrest High School 3 points