Story by reader AJCien. Pictures by Tan Huey Ying.
Toa Payoh Sports Hall, Thursday, May 22, 2008 – Without a doubt, Hwa Chong Institution proved to be the premier basketball side in the A Division Championship yet again when the boys steamrolled Anderson Junior College 98-76 in the final to complement the hard-fought title win by the HCI girls.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the HCI boys early on. While they showed their class, they were pushed all the way by AJC in a conservative start by both teams. With both teams converting many of their respective chances, AJC gave HCI a scare when they played to a 11-10 lead. But true to form, free-scoring HCI soon regained the lead. As the teams concluded the first quarter 23-20 in HCI’s favour, both teams were playing expansive free-flowing basketball that guaranteed drama afterwards.
As it went, the second quarter was also an exciting affair as HCI got another scare when AJC started well, taking the lead again. But sadly, this was to be the last time the AJC boys led the match. Calvin and Shengyu (who flew all the way back from Shanghai for the final) left no doubt about the class that they both have by giving HCI a 32-28 lead, while Yanming, the AJC captain, dazzled with crucial 3-pointers to maintain touching distance with the giants from Bukit Timah. Solid defending meant that at half-time it was still a closely contested affair; 42-38 in favour of HCI at the break.
AJC tried to rally in the second half, but the gulf was just too great as HCI demonstrated their superior finishing. With AJC restricted to three shots in contrast to HCI’s seven, the latter now started to pull away from the AJC team. It didn’t help that the AJC team was increasingly conceding free throws which is as good as handing out goodies to HCI. And with AJC’s physical approach to defence not working, HCI started dispatching free throws in addition to their successful shots. Even when AJC rallied with two 3-pointers, it was clear that their long-ball approach was not delivering the goods. The speedier HCI players wreaked havoc on the AJC defence while tempting to force them to commit more fouls. By the end of the quarter, HCI had scored 26 points, giving them a 68-54 lead. It soon became clear who the winner was going to be.
Yan Ming tried to rally his team, and he did, but only just. At 68-59, it seemed as if there might be a dramatic end. But free-scoring HCI added more shots to their tally, and with AJC struggling to keep pace, there was to be no spirited comeback for them. HCI glided past the 80-point mark within the quarter, and it was 90 soon after. As tensions frayed, AJC started conceding more free throws to HCI. Straggling past the 70-point mark with only three minutes left on the clock, AJC scored five more to bring the score to 76-97, although a late free-throw drama just before the final whistle resulted in the last shot by HCI, bringing them the championship with a 98-76 win.
Ed’s note: If you recognise yourself or your teammates in any of the photos, feel free to leave the names behind and we will update the captions accordingly.
photo 9 is lee zhi shu of AJC.
Nicely done, HCI, and esp to Hong Yao and Ah Bao (:
Your ex-CHS baller here (:
To sj: Report on A Div Girls Volleyball final coming soon. 🙂
sadly, there wasn’t much coverage for this year’s a div volleyball. (not even the finals?)
AJC #8 is Samuel Chng
Ah, so it’s you Joseph! Sorry but I didn’t recognise the email.
Incredible you can write comfortably for various sports. I have problems doing that.
Certainly enjoyed your stories, although the jet-lag business was over-the-top!
Dear Les,
Nicknames change, students may come and go, but style never changes.
I previously wrote a few volleyball articles in May 2007 as an AJC student. Since there are a few links to post, here are the headlines for these articles…
“Anderson and Hwa Chong JCs qualify for semi finals”- 10 May 07
“Nanyang JC beat Saints to secure semi-final spot”- 10 may 07
“Hwa Chong beat Nanyang 3-1 to advance to Final”- 12 May 07
“Anderson brush aside Temasek 3-0 to advance to final”- 12 May 07
“AJC’s double dream crushed: a student’s final reflection”- 17 may 07
I won’t have any more time to write articles during my NS days, so it’s be a while before readers can enjoy reading my articles with my trademark pre-match predictions and post-match analysis. I guess I’m the only writer to RedSports so far who goes the whole mile and write match predictions and reviews.
Maybe I’ll resume when I start my university days (which by then, I would have to shift my focus to the IVP Games and the sports scene in the universities). Keep your fingers crossed.
It’s been a pleasure contributing articles to RedSports during the past two years. Thanks to everyone for all the comments and compliments to my articles =)
Joseph (ex AJC student) aka AJCien
heh ajcien u took a video of the match right?
can upload highlights if u can? no pressure though XD
did u take a vid of the dunks shengyu did before the match haha
and WEIXIAN is a boy.
and WEI XIAN was also in ADIDAS NATIONS BASKETBALL CAMP last year with MITCHEL from TP and JIAWEI previously from navel base secondary
AJC #9 (photo4) is WEI XIAN .
previously a key player and main center of ngee ann secondary, and also a current member of national U18 squad
Hey Huey Ying, your pictures are beautifully composed. Photo 10 is especially beautiful.
And to AJCien (please let me know your name so that I can credit you), your story is a compelling read. You are a sports writer, one of the best I’ve seen on these pages so far.
im surprised ajc can keep up with hci at the half. mut be a nice game, a pity i couldnt be there to support my juniors. congrats to both hc guys and girls!
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