Homeboys in top 3 at Oyster Festival

KNYSNA NEWS - The Knysna Oyster Festival basketball tournament was held on Saturday 30 June.

The competition consisted of seven teams from four towns: Knysna, Mosselbay, Dysselsdorp and Oudtshoorn.

Our local team, Rim Dreams Basketball Club, took part this year after missing out on last year's tournament because of bad weather.

The format of the tournament had to be changed because of the late withdrawal of a rival team. What was originally going to be a round robin tournament turned into a frenzy of back-to-back games to decide the winner.

Knysna's own eventually finished third this year with a mixture of youth and experience from u18 and senior players in the first team. Team head coach Desmond Talmaggies says the standout players for the team in this year's Oyster Festival tournament were club captain Hughlin Hys, Hughrol Lourens and Albino Wabanie.

David Payle leaps for the hoop. Photos: Stefan Goosen

"We struggled a bit because of the difference in skill level of players in the first team but that's down to senior players playing with u18s. However, I am very happy with the progress the team is making and they still have lots of potential to improve," says Talmaggies.

With the next tournament happening in September, the coach says he is hopeful of improvement in the next tournament because the current group of players are a talented bunch.

Kyle Stevens of Knysna Rim Dreams (black) fights for possession.