By Rachel Yip/Red Sports
Musrifah Fadzlia (#9) of Unity reaches out to grab possession of the ball before Lim Boon Yee (#12) of Nanyang Girls’ High can reach it. Musrifah had a team-high 10 points while Boon Yee scored a game-high 16. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Jurong East Sports Hall, Thursday, July 26, 2012 – Unity Secondary came from behind to defeat Nanyang Girls’ High School 50-48 to successfully defend their West Zone C Division Girls’ Basketball Championship title.
It was certainly a game of free throws. Of the 50 Unity points, 20 came from free throws.
Although she was on the losing team, Nanyang’s Lim Boon Yee (#12) came away with a game-high 16 points. Unity captain Musrifah Fadzlia (#9) was the top scorer for her team with 10.
It was the second time these two teams faced each other this year. During the first round, Unity also came out tops by two points.
Nanyang, who were knocked out of the championship in the first round last year, were the underdogs in the final.
Lim Boon Yee (#12) of Nanyang got the scoring with a lay up and her captain Sheryl Ng (#4) missed a chance to make it 4-0 with a lay up. Unity came right back and sunk five straight points but Nanyang kept up the pressure and leveled at 6-6.
However, Unity’s mistakes saw them trail Nanyang for the rest of the quarter. They committed many missed passes and fouls to hand Nanyang a four-point 14-10 lead after the first 10 minutes.
It continued to be a tight affair in the second quarter. It was a scrappy game and the ball changed hands numerous times due to missed passes and interceptions. Three minutes into the second quarter, the score still remained the same as neither team could find the basket. Finally, Unity’s Lim Ke An (#10) put in both her free throws to reduce the deficit to two (12-14).
Nanyang’s Rachel (#10) answered immediately with a lay up at the other end of the court to re-establish a four-point lead. As it turned out, those were the only two points that Nanyang would score in the whole of the second quarter.
Unity themselves could barely penetrate Nanyang’s defence and at the other end, the Unity defence could not cope with Nanyang’s attack.
Nanyang’s physical play, though, saw them commit many fouls, in the process giving away free throws, which Unity converted. It saw Unity come from behind to lead 19-16 at half time. Of the 19 points Unity scored in the first half, nine were from free throws.
Unity dominated the third quarter and extended their lead. At one point, Unity’s Nur Athirah (#11), easily a head shorter than everyone on court, managed to cut through the Nanyang defence and score two points to put her team 25-18 up.
Nanyang’s game was starting to break down and their game was not as smooth as before, with players missing passes and giving away the ball easily.
Nanyang’s poor performance in the third quarter could be summed up by Charmian Cheah’s (#13) reaction to missing an unchallenged lay up. In tears, she buried her head into her hands and had to be urged on by her teammates.
Charmian redeemed herself by scoring four points after her miss, but crucially for Nanyang, they lost their captain Sheryl Ng to foul trouble in the third quarter as well and she had to sit out the remainder of the game.
Unity’s captain Musrifah Fadzlia (#9) then converted both her free throws to give Unity a 12-point lead, to put her team up 36-24.
Nanyang’s Yushin (#15) replied with a basket but Unity still led by 10 points at 36-26 going into the last quarter.
The first few minutes of the final quarter saw Unity score four points unanswered points through Eilya Sabrina (#8) and Musrifah Fadzlia for a 14-point lead, the largest in the game.
Nanyang did not surrender so easily. They fought back, with Jiahwee (#8), Charmian, Boon Yee, and Yushin combining for eight points, to close the gap to six (34-40).
The tension then went up a notch when Nanyang made several key interceptions and rebounds to reduce the gap further to two points (42-44).
However, in the heat of the game, Nanyang had another three of their players — Charmian, Liwen (#14), and Yushin — foul out.
Unity’s Lim Xiang Xuan (#13) had the perfect chance to increase their lead to four when she was found unmarked at the basket, but she missed.
With barely one minute left on the clock, Nanyang’s Boon Yee (#12) put in two points to reduce Unity’s lead to one point (46-47), leading to shrieks of delight from the Nanyang supporters in the stand.
Unity still managed to keep their noses in front when Eilya Sabrina (#8) sank one free throw and Maisarah Bte Md Sauki (#7) dropped a two-pointer to give their team a four-point lead once again, but Nanyang’s Rachel Wong (#10) pulled one back with 38 seconds left on the clock.
With 17 seconds left on the clock, it was Unity’s throw-in. The ball fell to Maisarah, but she missed and Nanyang’s Chloe (#7) caught the rebound. However, Nanyang blew any chance of coming back when a mix-up between Chloe and Natasha (#9) saw the ball back in Unity hands. Unity held on for the remaining seconds to give them a hard-fought 50-48 win at the expense of a determined Nanyang.
Unity captain Musrifah Fadzlia was happy with her team’s performance.
“It feels great to be West Zone champions. We persevered and never gave up. Even though it is Ramadan, everyone put in their all and fought for every ball until the last buzzer. Everyone did equally well,” said a delighted Musrifah.
Nanyang captain Sheryl Ng was also proud of her team despite the loss.
“I am proud of my team, especially the way we came back in the last quarter. After the first quarter, we panicked and could not perform as we were told. We were nervous and could not capitalise on our lead in the first quarter, but I am still proud of the way the team fought back,” said Sheryl.
“Last year we were out in the first round but we trained very hard to make it to the finals this year,” said Sheryl.
Both teams will now be moving on to the National Championship. For Unity, their target is to be National champions, while Nanyang’s aim is to make it to the top four.
Score by Quarter
Nanyang vs Unity
1st Q: 14-10
2nd Q: 2-9 (16-19)
3rd Q: 10-17 (26-36)
4th Q: 14-22
Final score: 48-50
Top scorers
Nanyang
Lim Boon Yee (#12) – 16 points
Charmian Cheah (#13) – 13 points
Boon Jiahwee (#8) – 6 points
Unity
Musrifah Fadzlia (#9) – 10 points
Lim Xiang Xuan (#13) – 9 points
Melissa Mok (#4) – 6 points
Eilya Sabrina (#8) – 6 points
Lim Ke An (#10) – 6 points
Nanyang Girls’ High Roster
Sheryl Ng (#4), Zhimin (#5), Weiwen (#6), Chloe Yan (#7), Boon Jiahwee (#8), Natasha (#9), Rachel Wong (#10), Dalini Viktoria Rajandhran (#11), Lim Boon Yee (#12), Charmian Cheah (#13), Liwen (#14), Yushin (#15)
Unity Roster
Melissa Mok (#4), Nurul Ameerah (#5), Nur Illimahira (#6), Maisarah BTE Md Sauki (#7). Eilya Sabrina (#8), Musrifah Fadzlia (#9), Lim Ke An (#10), Nur Athirah (#11), Rawiah BTE Salim (#12), Lim Xiang Xuan (#13), Priya Tharshini (#14), Ng Jie Yi (#15)
More photos next page
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