BASKETBALL

National ‘B’ Division Boys
Woodlands Ring Secondary School vs Jurong Secondary School
Wednesday, April 4 2007 at Clementi Sports Hall

Story by Lee Hwee Cheng. Pictures by Leslie Tan. © Red Sports/soulbreath pictures

After a one-week hiatus from the basketball courts, Les and I finally made our way back down to Clementi just in time to catch the very last Preliminary Round game of the National ‘B’ Boys Basketball Championships between Woodlands Ring Secondary and Jurong Secondary.

As it turned out, it became also a battle for the very last spot amongst the top eight teams who would advance into the quarter-finals.

Woodlands Ring’s Weiyao (no.7), the tireless forward who finds all ways to drive in for a lay-up, goes up for the basket...  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

… and Jurong’s Wenhao (no.8) goes down in defence.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

In a rather entertaining match between two understated teams who played good beautiful basketball without flashiness nor haughtiness, it was almost impossible to predict which side would eventually take the game.  Both teams ran hard on the fastbreaks, defended tirelessly with the man-to-man, played smartly without committing unnecessary fouls, minimized the unforced errors, and seemed concerned only about scoring, scoring and more scoring.  Well, at least till some point in the last quarter.  And it was only in the final minute of the game that I realized neither team had gotten itself into foul trouble, and that it has been a long while since I enjoyed watching such a beautiful, smooth-flowing game.

Jurong Secondary started the game with a blast, taking advantage of Woodlands Ring’s unwarmed-up feet. With no.8 Wenhao’s six consecutive points and center no.7 Sashi’s agile moves in the paint, Jurong looked set to take the first quarter with a 11-5 lead with two minutes remaining.  But the last two minutes of the quarter saw a sudden turn in events when Jurong took both Sashi and Wenhao out of the game for a rest and Woodland Rings switched to fifth gear and to a full-court man-to-man defence, forcingJurong to commit two consecutive turnovers.  Woodland Rings ended the first quarter with a morale-boosting 13-11 lead.

Jurong’s center Sashi (no.7), easily the tallest yet one of the most agile players in the paint, goes on a one-on-one drive toward the basket against Woodlands Ring’s Weiyao (no.7).  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

Jurong’s no.6 fights to block Woodlands Ring’s Weiyao (no.7) out of rebound reach.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

Woodlands Ring came back in the second quarter, looking much more highly charged than they were in first ten minutes.  Keeping up with the sticky defence, the Woodlands Ring boys started to make steals and cut  off passes. On the offensive end, they were driving into the paint and making pick-and-rolls with center no.13.  Within three minutes, they upped the lead to 21-13.  But once again, just when Jurong seemed to be slipping away, the return of Sashi and Wenhao into the court turned the situation around.  Woodlands Ring had their lead cut to a one-point game at 32-31 by the end of the first half.

Things turned sticky in the third quarter, as Jurong stuck one point behind Woodland Rings for a good five minutes when both teams took turns to put in three-pointers and fast-breaks.  A fastbreak by Jurong’s no.5 Wenjie finally put the boys in red back in the lead.  Jurong’s no.4 Weiyan then stepped up in the last minutes with a stop-and-pop shot and an assist to help Jurong finish the third quarter with a 45-42 lead.

Woodlands Ring’s center no.13 tussles with Jurong’s no.7 Sashi for the rebound.  The pair had the toughest match-up against each other throughout the entire game.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

Jurong’s no.5 Wenjie makes one of his few crucial fastbreaks in the third quarter, one of which put Jurong back in the lead after trailing for the most part of the first half.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

Jurong’s no.4 Weiyan takes a free throw.  Though the smallest player on the court, he had the smarts and quickness that helped him contribute crucial points and assists to his teammates in the third quarter.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

In the final quarter of the game, Woodlands Ring started with a 9-0 rampage while Jurong were kept scoreless by some unforced turnovers and missed shots. Within five minutes, Woodlands Ring were back in the lead at 51-45.  The fight continued on both ends of the court, but Jurong never quite managed to catch up again.

The Woodlands Ring boys cinched that final spot in the Quarter-finals with a 62-53 win.  They will meet Gan Eng Seng Secondary in the quarter-finals.

Jurong’s no.9 Jonathan steps up at various points throughout the entire game to take on scoring responsibilities when it was required of him.  Quick and nimble, he is one of the key stabilizers for Jurong.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

Woodlands Ring’s no.9, key controller of the game, is fearless on a lay-up against Jurong’s Sashi.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

Here are the results from the other games of the day:

Girls

Anglican High School vs Nan Chiau High  51-49
Unity Secondary vs Yuying Secondary  38-43

Boys

Unity Secondary vs Gan Eng Seng  36-55
Anglican High School vs Naval Base Secondary  61-65
New Town Secondary vs Junyuan Secondary  77-37

Editor’s note:  Names, names, names!  We need names!  We did not manage to get hold of the athletes’ names, so if you do recognize yourselves or your friends/teammates, please do let us know and we’ll update the captions and report accordingly.   Also, please feel free to visit the gallery for more action shots.