On Sunday the 26th of October 12 excited high school basketballers along with four adults travelled to Palmerston North for the New Zealand Secondary School Basketball National Championships. 

Catholic Cathedral College competes in the ‘A’ division which is for schools that have student numbers of less than six hundred. The boys were dealt a tough blow when the pools were decided leaving them with games against the runners up from South Islands and the North Island Champions effectively making the pool the “pool of death”.

The tournament started out strongly with a 20 point win over Sir Edmund Hillary College followed by a close win over St Kevin’s on the first day of pool play. The second day of pool play was the day that counted with a good win against Greymouth High School followed by a devastating loss to Manukura High who were the North Island Champs. With this loss the team missed out on qualifying for the semi finals due to points differential. To finish up the boys easily accounted for Nga Taiatia College and Sir Edmund Hillary once again to finish in a respectable 5th place.

This was the highest placing the team has achieved at this tournament and were well deserving of this ranking, if not a higher one.