Bulldogs show resilience at Youth Classic

Ocean View's Bulldogs and Montana Vikings did Cape Town proud at this year's U19 African Grass-root Hoops Youth Classic.

- FUAD ESACK

The teams represented the Mother City in the boys' and girls' divisions, respectively, at the fifth annual tournament, held at the Cape Town German School in Tamboerskloof over the weekend.

In only their first appearance at the tournament, the Bulldogs surprised friend and foe, securing a spot in the semi-finals against Observatory-based Eagles Basketball Club, whom they beat 51-45 to advance to the finals against Soweto Academy.

Point guard Decklin Liebenberg was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP) following a solid performance overall.

This year's two-day extravaganza featured Cape sides and entries from other provinces.

The tournament grew from 12 teams in 2023 to 18 teams and 216 players taking part in last year's edition. Ultimately, Soweto's boys' and girls' sides claimed bragging rights in the 2025 championship finals, beating their Cape rivals 63-54 and 33-27 in the boys' and girls' divisions, respectively.

In an epic north versus south battle, the Soweto boys took an early lead and stayed 10 points ahead of the Bulldogs for most of the match, seemingly quicker on the rebound, tighter on defence and not afraid to play long passes.

In true Bulldog fashion, the local lads never gave up, giving it their all till the final buzzer. They launched attacks of their own, closing the gap to two points early in the match and threatening to equalise if not surpass their opponents.