Augusco end Mfantsipim's reign
The Cape Coast derby went to St. Augustine's. In the final of the 2016 Sprite Ball Championship, the school known as Augusco beat its old rivals Mfantsipim School 37-22 and lifted the trophy for the first time, ending the defending champions' hopes of a fifth national title.
The win put St. Augustine's on a roll of honor that already included Achimota School, champions in 2007, and Keta Senior High School, champions in 2014. It also completed a turnaround for a side regarded before the tournament as a dark horse at best, after successive exits at the quarter-final stage.
Two unbeaten teams meet in the final
Both schools reached the final without losing a game. St. Augustine's saw off Prempeh College in the quarter-finals and Pope John's in the semi-finals. Mfantsipim beat St. Thomas Aquinas and an impressive Opoku Ware side on their own route through the bracket.
The format leaves little room for error. A single bad half can send a strong side home, and the schools that reach the final usually do so by staying calm in the close games. The tournament itself was a compact affair: 26 senior high schools, 16 in the boys' division and 10 in the girls', drawn into groups and played out over a few days on the El-Wak courts in Accra.
How the final turned
Mfantsipim started as if they meant to repeat 2015. Playmaker Kofi Aboagye and captain Nana Banyin Tandoh made a series of strong runs into the paint, and the holders raced to an 8-0 lead.
St. Augustine's clawed their way back through the free-throw line. Dennis Dugbennu, the big man everyone at the school called "Mantse", converted from the charity stripe, and coach Lawrence Ampiah saw an opening. Mfantsipim were in foul trouble, so he told his players to attack the basket, draw contact and take their points from the line. A nine-point run, built mostly on free throws, gave Augusco an 18-12 lead in the first half.
The decisive moment came when Mfantsipim center Elorm Dzissah fouled out. With no one left to match him inside, Mantse controlled the paint, collecting rebounds and scoring on second-chance opportunities. Four straight points from Aboagye cut into a 30-17 deficit, but the comeback came too late, and St. Augustine's closed out the game.
Mantse MVP, Ampiah coach of the tournament
Dugbennu was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, and Lawrence Ampiah was voted best coach. Among those celebrating with the team was Nathaniel Attoh, the broadcast journalist and former student of the school, who joined the players after the final whistle.
Third place in the boys' division went to Pope John's, who beat Opoku Ware. The girls' final was even tighter than the boys' was lopsided: Aggrey Memorial beat Accra Wesley Girls 9-8, ending a run of four straight final defeats, while T.I. Ahmadiyya, champions in 2014 and 2015, finished third.
| Division | Final | Third place |
|---|---|---|
| Boys | St. Augustine's 37-22 Mfantsipim | Pope John's |
| Girls | Aggrey Memorial 9-8 Accra Wesley Girls | T.I. Ahmadiyya |
A Catholic school with a long basketball memory
St. Augustine's College was founded in 1930 as a Catholic institution and is regarded as the first Catholic second-cycle school built in the Gold Coast. It began at Amissano, near Elmina, before moving to Cape Coast, where it grew into one of the best-known boys' boarding schools in the country. Mfantsipim is its neighbor in Cape Coast, and a final between the two carries more weight than any other pairing the draw could produce. Old students of both schools follow the result as closely as the players do.
On the basketball court the school was no stranger to the Sprite Ball's closing stages. It had been runner-up to Achimota in the 2007 edition, and nine years passed before it went one better.
The year after the title
St. Augustine's had little time to enjoy being champions. The next Sprite Ball was played at the end of December 2016, with Augusco defending its crown among 26 schools and three debutants. That edition was won by Opoku Ware School, who beat Mfantsipim in the final, and in January 2018 Presec Osu beat Mfantsipim as well. For Mfantsipim, the 2016 final was the first of three straight lost finals. The year-by-year winners are listed on the Sprite Ball page.