Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

CCAB, Friday, February 19, 2010 -- Defending South Zone champions Catholic High crashed out of the South Zone B Division Basketball Championship after falling 49-59 to high-flying Peirce Secondary in the second round.

Catholic High needed a win to have any hope of qualification from Group X after losing to Raffles Institution 61-52 in a previous match, but their opponents, who also beat RI on Wednesday, proved too strong for them.

With the victory, the undefeated Peirce progress to the semi-final stage as winners of Group X while Raffles Institution, who finished second, are also through to the next round.

The loss for Catholic High also means they will not feature in the national championship for the first time in a long while. Only the top four from each zone qualify for the nationals.

Although Peirce took a brief lead at the start of the match through Lowell Leong’s (Peirce, #8) and Tan Kok Tiong’s (Peirce, #9) free throws, Catholic High were able to level before going on a 6-0 run to claim the lead at 9-5. However, Peirce quickly came back through a rare four-point play by Leong Wei Hao.

Both teams matched each other in the first quarter with solid defending, but Catholic High took a slight lead into the second quarter at 12-10 after Duncan Koh's no-look back pass found Lee You Chen for an easy layup in the closing moments of the quarter.

Peirce came out fighting in the second quarter with Lowell Leong making a brilliant three-point play to start the second. Together with Muhd Nurhadi (Peirce, #10), they led Peirce on a 10-0 run. Each scored seven points in the second quarter as Peirce took a 20-12 lead.

Not a team to go down easily, Catholic High responded well with a couple of accurate shots. A three-pointer from Lee You Chen (Catholic High, #12) and another three-point play by Duncan Koh (Catholic High, #7) reduced the deficit.

Catholic High were not able to level the match however, as the good work by Peirce at the start of the second allowed them to take a 26-24 lead at half-time.

The third quarter started the same way the second did with Peirce going on another 10-0 run with Lowell and Nurhadi having their way with the Catholic High defense. At the other end, Catholic High struggled to break down the airtight Peirce defense. It took Catholic High five minutes to finally get on the boards in the third quarter.

Leong Wei Hao's three-pointer further extended Peirce lead to a massive 18 points, the largest lead of the game, as his side ended the third quarter with a comfortable 15-point lead at 46-31.

Despite looking dead and buried at this point, Catholic High slowly mounted a comeback in the final quarter. Peirce were in the penalty very early in the quarter and that allowed Catholic High to creep back into the match. With 1.38 left in the match, Duncan Koh nailed a three-pointer to bring them to within four points at 47-51.

However, Catholic High's full-court press left holes at the back, allowing Peirce to hit them on the break with James Gay and Leong Wei Hao doing the damage.

Although they lost the quarter 13-18, Peirce eventually ran out 59-49 winners.

"Peirce played well today so credit to them," said Catholic High coach Ian Chew. "We responded well to the runs by Peirce in the second quarter, but certain referee decision affected my team."

"We tried to close the gap in the last quarter, but we couldn't do it. The expectation level is different from last year's team because of the success that they had in C Division but whatever it is, I am proud of my team - they worked hard and did their best."

Peirce will next face Yuying Secondary in the semi-final on Wednesday, February 24, 2009.

Quarter by Quarter Scores
Peirce v Catholic High
1st Q: 10-12
2nd Q: 16-12
3rd Q: 20-7
4th Q: 13-18

Top scorers:
Lowell Leong (Peirce #8) - 19 points
Muhd Nurhadi (Peirce #10) - 14 points
Leong Wei Hao (Peirce #4) - 11 points

Editors note: If you recognise yourself or your team mates in any of the photos, feel free to leave the names behind in the comments section and we will update the captions accordingly. Thanks!

See first quarter highlights of the game:

See second quarter highlights of the game:

See third quarter highlights of the game:

See fourth quarter highlights of the game:

Go to SCHOOLS FIXTURES & RESULTS page for more info.

For more photos from the matches, go to the GALLERY.