The Gold Coast Blaze Battle of the Schools (BOS) tournament has officially concluded for 2011.

In its second year, the BOS program was extended to include schools from Brisbane and Northern NSW, intensifying the competition even further than in its first year.

In total, six girls teams and twelve boys teams competed for the BOS trophy and the chance to compete in the Grand Final series played pre-game at 2011/12 Gold Coast Blaze home games.

Following 5 rounds of action, the grand finalists were decided.

On October 7, before the first Blaze home game of the season, girls teams from John Paul College (JPC) and Helensvale SHS took to the home court of the Blaze at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.

While Helensvale put up a good fight, JPC were the deserving winners of the girls shield, following an unbeaten streak throughout the tournament. The grand final MVP was awarded to JPC standout, Peri Ewin.

On November 12, Brisbane Boys College (BBC) and The Southport School (TSS) competed for the boys shield.

TSS led the way by up to 10 points at some stages of the first half thanks to a typical TSS bullet proof zone and some long-range bombs from Andrew Lomakin and Andrew Kinnaird shooting at 60% from the 3-point line.

The BBC squad?s experience proved to be too strong for the young TSS group, however. Beau Bergen, Jaryd Eustace and Jakob Stalder led the team to victory by taking advantage of the smaller TSS, winning the rebounding fight 48-37 and registering 32 points from inside the paint.

The final score saw BBC defeat TSS 76 ? 70.

A big thank you to AB Paterson College, All Saints Anglican College, Aquinas College, Brisbane Boys College, Helensvale SHS, Hillcrest College, Varsity College, John Paul College, Palm Beach Currumbin SHS, Southport SHS, St Hildas College, The Southport School and Trinity College Lismore for joining the Battle in 2011. We hope to see you all back next year!

The 2012 Battle of the Schools tournament registrations will open in Term 2, 2012 and we?re planning on making it even bigger and better than the 2011 tournament.

For further information about the Battle of the Schools program or to register your interest for 2012, contact Gold Coast Blaze Community Development Coordinator Mitch Wilson via email at mitchell.wilson@blazegc.com.au or at the Gold Coast Blaze office on 07 5527 5427.