BASKETBALL

South Zone ‘B’ Division
Catholic High vs Gan Eng Seng Secondary
Thursday, 8 March 2007, at Toa Payoh Sports Hall

This match report is written by Mr Ian Chew, teacher-in-charge of basketball at Catholic High. Some of the pictures are from Ian as well and so copyright belongs to him. Thanks Ian!


With a quick spin move, point guard Chiam Hong Yao of the Catholic High School’s basketball team sliced through the entire Gan Eng Seng team defence and got fouled in the process. He then made his one of his two foul shots count to finish the match with a game total of 9 points. Catholic High emerged victorious with an easy 74 – 45 win over Gan Eng Seng Secondary in a B Division South Zone basketball final match played on 8 Mar (Thu) at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall to successfully defend their South Zone title.

Khaw Yeong Wooi of Catholic High (in white) lays up against Gan Eng Seng Sec. © Ian Chew

Yet it did not seemed that way at the start. Gan Eng Seng began the match the brighter of the two and were more determined and organized in their team play. With some quick passing by their point guard Pek Jia Rong and cool finishing by his teammates, Gan Eng Seng quickly jumped to a 10-4 lead.

Despite being down and obviously not yet warmed up to the rhythm of the game, Catholic High clawed back into match with some tenacious defending and relied on their 1.95m centre Khaw Yeong Wooi to put some points on the board for the team. He made 2 put backs from under the basket to close the gap to 8-10. More crucially, he drew two quick fouls from Gan Eng Seng’s powerful centre Clarence Leong, which resulted in an early exit for him.

This proved to be crucial as the Catholic High team tightened their defence and worked relentlessly through the paint to jump to an 18-10 lead. The Gan Eng Seng team could only manage four more points to end the first quarter with the score standing at 18-14 in Catholic High’s favour.

No.10 Chiam Hong Yao of Catholic High gets ready for a shot © Ian Chew

That was as close as Gan Eng Seng got. Catholic High started the second quarter with renewed vigour and extended their lead through a combination of aggressive pressure man-to-man defence on their opponents. This resulted in numerous turnovers by the harried Gan Eng Seng team and some easy baskets for the defending champions. Their scoring was spread evenly over all five players on the floor and they extended their lead to 39-17 by half-time.



Catholic High’s Hong Yao charges to the net.  © leslie tan/Red Sports
The match was effectively over as a contest as both sides fielded their reserves in the third and fourth quarters as the match played out to its expected conclusion. It finished with a flourish for Catholic High as their skilful playmaker Chiam Hong Yao combined with sharpshooter Shawn Lim to produce some highlight moves to wow the crowd.

Commented Mr Oh Thian Soon, coach of the Catholic High team on the win: “I think our defense was the key in today’s win. We knew our opponents were tired and our players capitalized on this by playing pressure defense on them throughout the game, especially in the last quarter.”

Added Chester Leow, captain of the Catholic High basketball team, “We didn’t start well especially in the first quarter when most of us were feeling quite lethargic. But we did not give up as we were determined to play well and win the title. I am sure the entire basketball CCA team will use this South Zone tournament as a springboard to improve our performances for the coming National rounds.”

Members of the B Division Catholic High Basketball Team

Teachers in charge:  Mr Ian Chew, Mdm Wong Mui Lin

Coach: Mr Oh Thian Soon

Players: 

Chew Kai Bin  4-10
Nicholas Tan Yao Hui  4-10
Benjamin Chang  4-10
Jonathan Cher  3-11
Jason Pok Wei Wen  3-11
Shawn Lim Fang Ching  3-11
Chiam Hong Yao  4-10
Chester Leow  4-10 (Captain)
Khaw Yeong Wooi  3-11
Wong Kam Seng  2-9
Chong Ming Xuan  2-9
Tey Shou Heng  4-10

Another layup by Hong Yao  © Goh Shao Wei

New Town Sec’s bballers came in third in the South Zone. © Kennie Pan

© Kennie Pan

© Kennie Pan

© Kennie Pan


  More action shots in the Picture Gallery.