Kheng Cheng Pri outlasts Kranji Pri in national basketball first round match

Story and pictures contributed by reader Ian Chew

Kheng Cheng Pri’s 1.7m tall centre made his presence felt with numerous blocked shots and rebounds in the match. (Photo © Ian Chew)

Kranji Primary School, Thursday, 3 March 2008 – Kheng Cheng Primary may have possessed the tallest player in Cui Yu Kun (#4, KCS) for the match but it was their two shortest players that shone in a first round 58-53 national win over hosts Kranji Primary!

Standing at only about 1.45m tall each, both Joseph Lim (#15, KCS) and Benedict Koh (#8, KCS) nonetheless showed great composure and deft shooting touches to score 12 and 9 points for their team respectively. Thirteen of their twenty one points were scored in the second half alone.

Their baskets were to prove crucial for the team as the Kranji players had by this time begun to close down on Yu Kun to prevent him from scoring. He only managed four points in the second half.

Point guard Zhuang Bao Kun (#7, KCS) also had a good game with 7 points scored for his team. His excellent ball control and ball distribution skills was to prove more crucial for his team however, particularly in the last quarter when Kranji threatened to catch up with a robust full court press defense.

Kranji Primary had kept the game close from the start, with their “three musketeers” Leong Heng Wei (#8), Haziq (#9) and She Shai Huan (#10) aggressively attacking the basket at each opportunity. All three players together accounted for 44 of Kranji’s eventual 53 points.

Despite the loss, Kranji’s coach Victor Tan accepted the result with grace.

“Our players have improved a lot from about three months ago when we went for an overseas training stint in China. On the other hand, Kheng Cheng is a strong defensive team and they played very well today in restricting our passes.

“On our part, we are happy to qualify for the quarter finals and hope for a good draw!” he said.

The quarter finals will commence next week on 7 April (Monday) and will be played at Choa Chu Kang Primary and Kranji Primary.

Both sides, obviously friendly with each other, shaking hands after a good match. Both teams qualified for the quarter finals to be played next week. (Photo © Ian Chew)

Centre Cui Yu Kun (#4, KCS) may have top scored for his team with 17 points, but it was teammates Benedict Koh’s (#8) and Joseph Lim’s (#15) accurate shooting that made the difference. (Photo © Ian Chew)

Leong Heng Wei (#8) led his Kranji team with a 12-point production in the game. He was let down by a poor free throw performance though. (Photo © Ian Chew)