Story contributed by reader Ian Chew of Catholic High. Pictures by Les Tan and reader Marvin Lowe. Catch highlights on RedSportsTV.

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Randy Ng of Jurong (in white) goes for a shot while a Catholic High player tries to close him down. Randy hit a team-high 16 points, including four 3-pointers. (Photo 1 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Toa Payoh Sports Hall, Tuesday, April 22, 2008 – Catholic High chose the right moment to peak with a convincing 99-65 win over a previously unbeaten Jurong Secondary in the National B Division Basketball Championship final. Captain Jabez Su (#4) may have led all scorers with 32 points in the game but it was Catholic High’s point guard Dominic Lim (#10) who garnered the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award with his astute and cool control of the game.

Catholic High won 17 games and lost one on their way to the title, their sole loss coming against Raffles Institution in the second round of the South Zone Championship.

Catholic High showed their winning intent early, finishing with a sizzling 34-19 first quarter lead. Forward Wong Kam Seng (#11, CH) drove repeatedly into the paint, using his speed and height advantage to score 10 points in the opening run. Jabez also showed a sure shooting touch to add 13 points, including two from beyond the 3-point arc.

Jurong at this time were restricted to outside shooting, though Jurong’s vice-captain Soh Wei Yan (#4), Chua Wen Jie (#5) and Randy Ng (#7) were spot on from behind the 3-point line in the first quarter.

If there were any thoughts that Jurong would roll over for the rest of the match, they were quickly banished at the opening of the second quarter. Jurong’s Weiyan started their comeback efforts with a long 3-pointer, to the delight of the Jurong supporters. Their cheers had hardly died down when Randy followed with another 3-pointer of his own. Suddenly the lead was cut to 34-29 and Catholic High’s coach Raymond Oh quickly called for a time-out. The crowd was excited by now, sensing a fightback by the Jurong team.

However, the much vaunted Catholic High defense went to work after the time-out, limiting the Jurong team to a mere 8 points for the rest of the quarter. Jurong’s centre Hiew Zi Hao (#11) also crucially picked up a fourth personal foul at this early stage. (He eventually fouled out early in the third quarter.) Catholic High closed out the half with a 19-8 run to lead 53-37 at the half.

In the second half, Jurong could find no answer to the height and strength advantage of the defending champions. Catholic High centres Chong Ming Xuan (#14) and Goh Kong Tat (#12) dominated the boards and towered over the Jurong players in defense to restrict the Jurong team to a 28-point production in the final two quarters.

On the other hand, forwards Jonathan Cher (#7) and Jabez used their speed to embark on countless fast break attempts, scoring 23 points in the process. Eventually, even a determined but fast tiring Jurong could do nothing to stop Catholic High from racking up a memorable victory. Jabez then added the icing on the cake, scoring a lay up for the last basket of the game with time expiring.

A sporting Johnathan Lian (#8, JSS), obviously still hampered by an ankle injury suffered in the earlier rounds, complimented the winning team.

“They(Catholic High team) played very well.”

Notes: Despite suffering from food poisoning just the night before, Jonathan Cher put in a stupendous effort to score 8 points. However, he was thoroughly exhausted after the match… All CH team players managed to take some part in the game, though Ngo Jie Wei (#6) unfortunately sat out with a wrist injury… The starting Catholic High team would still be eligible next year as they are currently only studying in Sec 3.

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Yip Ann Perng of Jurong (#6) tries to find a way around Jonathan Cher of Catholic High. (Photo 2 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
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Soh Wei Yan of Jurong goes for two just inside the 3-point line. (Photo 3 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
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A Jurong player finds some space for himself despite the defense of Goh Kong Tat (#12) and Wong Kam Seng (#11) of Catholic High. (Photo 4 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
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Captain Jabez Su’s game-high 32-point performance contributed to Catholic High’s championship winning effort. (Photo 5 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
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Jonathan Cher goes for two despite the defensive efforts of a Jurong player. Despite food poisoning, Jonathan played on and scored 8 points in the game. (Photo 6 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
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Goh Kong Tat’s huge physical presence and 12-point contribution also played a part. (Photo 7 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
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Nicholas Chan of Jurong contends with the imposing height of Goh Kong Tat as he goes for two. (Photo 8 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
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Johncelin Khoo hits a jumper for Catholic High. He got himself on the scoring charts with two points and should feature again in next season’s B Division championship team. (Photo 9 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
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Chong Ming Xuan of Catholic High goes high over Marcus Chang and Soh Wei Yan of Jurong. Ming Xuan gave a 14-point performance. (Photo 10 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
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The Catholic High team let out a celebratory cheer at the end to commemorate their fourth consecutive B Division Championship title. (Photo 11 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
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Gigantic banners from Catholic High. In case anyone forgot they were there. 😉 (Photo 12 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Additional pictures by Marvin Lowe

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Soh Wei Yan of Jurong (#4) flies through the air after a pass. (Photo 12 © Marvin Lowe)
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An athletic Randy Ng of Jurong tries to find a way around Chong Ming Xuan of Catholic High. (Photo 13 © Marvin Lowe)
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A Jurong player shoots while Jason Pok (#8) of Catholic High defends. (Photo 14 © Marvin Lowe)
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A tale of two Jons: Jonathan Cher lays up successfully while a Jurong’s Johnathan Lian defends. (Photo 15 © Marvin Lowe)
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Soh Wei Yan takes the low route against Chong Ming Xuan of Catholic High. (Photo 16 © Marvin Lowe)
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Dominic Lim of Catholic High (back to camera) throws a pass out to an open teammate while Soh Wei Yan of Jurong defends. (Photo 17 © Marvin Lowe)
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Justin Nadar (#15) of Jurong mixes it up with Chong Ming Xuan of Catholic High. (Photo 18 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)


TEAM SHEET

Catholic High School

Jabez Su (#4)
Sathyaselan Ayanam (#5)
Ngo Jie Wei (#6)
Jonathan Cher (#7)
Jason Pok (#8)
Lee Qi Ming (#9)
Dominic Lim (#10)
Wong Kam Seng (#11)
Goh Kong Tat (#12)
Lim Fang Yee (#13)
Chong Ming Xuan (#14)
Johncelin Khoo (#15)
Coach: Mr Raymond Oh Thian Soon
Teacher-In-Charge: Mr Ian Chew

Jurong Secondary

Soh Wei Yan (#4)
Chua Wen Jie (#5)
Yip Ann Perng (#6)
Randy Ng (#7)
Johnathan Lian (#8)
Oh Wei Jian (#9)
Clement Neo (#10)
Hiew Zi Hao (#11)
Nicholas Chan (#12)
Gary Lim (#13)
Marcus Chang (#14)
Justin Nadar (#15)
Coach: Mr Chong Yew Seng
Teacher-In-Charge: Mr Lee Kok Leong

Top scorers:

Catholic High
Jabez Su (#4) – 32 points (2×3-pointers)
Wong Kam Seng (#11) – 21 points
Chong Ming Xuan (#14) – 14 points
Goh Kong Tat (#12) – 12 points
Dominic Lim (#10) – 10 points

Jurong:
Randy Ng (#7) – 16 points (4×3-pointers)
Soh Wei Yan (#4) – 14 points (3×3-pointers)