BASKETBALL

National ‘B’ Division Boys’ Final
Gan Eng Seng Secondary School vs Catholic High School
Wednesday, 25 April 2007 at Toa Payoh Sports Hall

This post-game report has been very kindly written and contributed by Mr Ian Chew, a teacher from Catholic High and our regular contributor.  Thanks, Ian!

Catholic High’s Chong Ming Xuan goes for the lay-up despite a defensive hassle from GES’s Yap Kian Leong from the back. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports     

Sportmanship was the winner in the end as traditional South Zone rivals Catholic High and Gan Eng Seng Secondary faced off In the National Inter-school ‘B’ Division basketball final held at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall on 25 April 07 Wednesday. Both sides extended their heartiest congratulations to each other as the match concluded and the Catholic High team especially applauded Gan Eng Seng’s point-guard Pek Jia Rong when he was announced the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the match. The match ended incidentally with Catholic High triumphing 61-50 to win their third straight ‘B’ Division title.


Catholic High started the better of the two teams, with centre Chong Ming Xuan scoring the first basket after the team collected three straight offensive rebounds. The clear height advantage that the Catholic High players enjoyed certainly added to the ease of their lead as they restricted the Gan Eng Seng team to a few shot attempts in the first quarter. The pressure-defense of the Catholic High resulted in many interceptions and they raced to a 21-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. Guards Chiam Hong Yao and Shawn Lim were especially impressive during this period as they combined for a total 17 points, scored mainly through fast breaks. In particular, Shawn Lim missed the chance to complete a rare 4-point play when he was fouled while making a 3-pointer. He missed the subsequent free throw.

Gan Eng Seng started the second quarter determined to keep the score down. By slowing down the game, they managed to affect the momentum of the Catholic High team and kept them from increasing the lead. They were helped by some turnovers committed by the Catholic High players, who were overeager at times to score some points of their own. The half ended with the Catholic High team up by 12 points, leading 37-25 at the break.

Aware of the main threat posed by the Catholic High team, the third quarter saw a change in strategy of the Gan Eng Seng defense in putting bodies on Catholic High’s 1.95m centre Khaw Yeong Wooi whenever he had possession of the ball. As soon as Yeong Wooi got the ball in the low post area, he was immediately triple-teamed, forcing him to pass the ball out. This seemed to work as the Catholic High team was restricted to scoring only 14 points in this period. Yet the Gan Eng Seng team failed to capitalize on this defensive success, managing only to score 10 points in the quarter. Six of these points came through centre Clarence Lim shooting jumpers over Yeong Wooi. The third quarter ended with Gan Eng Seng trailing 35-51.

With the game nearing its end, Gan Eng Seng went for broke in the fourth quarter with their players attempting 3 pointers to close the gap. This strategy paid off with their point guard Pek Jia Rong scoring 2 back-to-back spectacular long-range shots. That coupled with baskets from Wong Zi Xian (No. 4) and Clarence Lim, enabled Gan Eng Seng to close within 10 points of Catholic High trailing by 45-55. Confidence rattled, coach of Catholic High Raymond Oh immediately called for a time-out.

Coming off the time-out, Shawn Lim of Catholic High took over the scoring reins. He made two consecutive shots, one from 3-point land to pop the lead back to a comfortable 15 points. Gan Eng Seng’s efforts to catch up after that proved vain as Catholic High eventually ran out 61-50 winners.

Chester Leow, captain of the Catholic High team, later complimented his opponents.

“They have certainly improved a great deal since the last time we played them. It was not an easy game for us as their defense made it especially difficult for us to execute our plays. Yet at the same time, I am very proud to be associated with my teammates as we have worked very hard all these years to win three consecutive titles. Thanks too to the principal, teachers and coach for making this possible. This is a great achievement which we will treasure for many years to come!”