Concordia College wins fifth straight boy's Statewide Knockout basketball tournament

WHEN ex-State League basketballer David Shepherd took over Concordia College's basketball program eight years ago he wondered what he got himself into.

WHEN former State League basketballer David Shepherd took over as co-ordinator of Concordia College's basketball program eight years ago he wondered what he got himself into.

"I remember in my first season our (senior boy's) team lost a match to Unley High School by more than 100 points,'' says Shepherd, a teacher at Concordia.

Fast forward to now, and Concordia is the undisputed king of SA school basketball, having recently won the senior boy's Statewide Knockout tournament for a record fifth straight year.

The school achieved the feat last month after going undefeated in the playoff of SA's six best schools at Wayville. Concordia beat Sacred Heart and Christian Brothers colleges along the way before easily accounting for Mount Gambier's Tenison Woods College in the final.

So what brought about the remarkable turnaround in Concordia's fortunes?

"Hard work and culture,'' Shepherd says.

"We've developed this expectation of success now and there is this culture where the next group of students come into the (senior) program and want to achieve, like the last group did.

"We attract some talented kids but we also have kids who are successful because they want to get the best out of themselves and work hard."

Among the team's stars is guard Hamish Burns of Sturt Basketball Club.