One point between the two Koforidua schools
The Eastern Region title came down to a single basket. In late November 2017, Pope John Senior High School and Junior Seminary beat Koforidua Senior High Technical School, known locally as KSTS or "SecTech", 31-30 to finish first in the regional qualifiers.
Both teams had already secured their places at the next national championship before the final tipped off. What was left to play for was the number one spot in the region, and with it the bragging rights in Koforidua, the regional capital both schools call home.
Pope John reached that game unbeaten. Coach James Okine's side then produced the final win of the division to clinch first place. The result decided only the order in which the two Koforidua schools would carry the Eastern Region's name to Accra in January.
A hard road through the semifinals
The regional title did not come easily. For the second game in a row, Pope John had to fight for the result. In the semifinal against St. Peter's Senior High School the score stayed low throughout, and Pope John got through 14-13.
That semifinal did little to convince the school's supporters, and a one-point margin against St. Peter's left questions about the team's attack. The final against KSTS was a better showing. Pope John scored 31 points, more than twice its semifinal total, and still needed every one of them to edge past the regional rival.
| Round | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Semifinal | St. Peter's SHS | 14-13 |
| Final | KSTS | 31-30 |
A point to prove at national level
Pope John, often shortened to POJOSS, came into the qualifiers with something to make up for. At the previous national championship the team had missed out on a medal, finishing behind St. John's School of Sekondi, who took the bronze. For a school used to competing for a place on the podium, leaving Accra empty-handed was a setback.
That edition, played at the end of December 2016, was the tenth anniversary of the championship. Joy Online reported that St. John's beat Pope John 23-16 in the bronze game, while Opoku Ware School took the boys' title with a 27-25 win over Mfantsipim. Wesley Girls' High School won the girls' final 6-4 against Kumasi Girls' Senior High School. The loss to St. John's was the game Pope John carried into the 2017 season, and the regional title eleven months later was the first chance to answer it.
The regional win meant a return to the national stage with momentum. The next edition of the Sprite Ball Championship, Ghana's most celebrated high school basketball event, was due to tip off in January 2018 at the El-Wak Stadium in Accra. The championship is organized by Rite Sports Limited, with Sprite as the headline sponsor.
What happened in Accra
The national finals went better for Pope John than the previous year. Graphic Sports reported that the team reached the medal games and beat Sacred Heart Technical Institute 21-12 in the third-place game, so the school left Accra with a bronze medal this time.
The boys' title went to Presbyterian Senior High School, Osu. Presec came from behind to beat Mfantsipim 25-22 in the final, their second win over the record champions in three days, to take their first Sprite Ball title. In the girls' final, Kumasi Girls' Senior High School beat Accra Wesley Girls' High School 30-29 after overtime. Presec guard Joel Koboayere was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, and his coach, Eric Ankamah Agyapong, received the award for Male Coach of the Year.
A rivalry with history
The two Eastern Region finalists know each other well. KSTS hosted the first Eastern Regional Sprite Ball tournament on its own grounds in October 2008, when eight schools gathered in Koforidua and the host team won. A year later KSTS, captained by a young forward named Emmanuel Ekow Amoako, took the regional title again after Abuakwa State College were disqualified.
Pope John's season did not end with the bronze. A few weeks after the finals in Accra, the school marked its 60th anniversary and opened a new basketball court on its compound in Koforidua, paid for by an old boy. For a team that had now reached the semifinals at three consecutive national championships without playing in a final, a court of its own was the next piece of the plan.