BASKETBALL

National Primary Inter-school Senior Boys’ Final
Kheng Cheng Primary School vs Kranji Primary School
Thursday, 26 April, 2007, at Toa Payoh Sports Hall

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

(Editor’s note:  This is a play-by-play post-game report that should have originally been a live play-by-play report, but you know, we have a love-hate relationship with the wonderful technology known as the Internet.  Be prepared for a long read!)

Kranji’s player drives to the basket. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports     

Kranji Primary School revelled in double elation yesterday as they went home with not one, but two championship titles in both the National Senior Boys and National Senior Girls finals held at Toa Payoh Sports Hall.

The Red Sports Crew joined in the fun yesterday – our very first personal experience with a National Primary Inter-school game – after all the interest generated from all the talk we’ve heard on the Red Sports web site in the past weeks.  While it warmed our hearts to see little boys dribbling down the court in jersey shorts that reached their calves and basketball shoes that really looked two sizes too large, we were even more enthralled by the amazing skills individual players exhibited, the instinctive and unselfish teamwork the boys executed, and the intense fighting spirits that permeated the hall throughout the entire forty minutes of play.

The Red Sports Crew had arrived just in time to catch the tip-off of the Boy’s final.  Starting off in the first quarter for Kheng Cheng, donning their home-team colors of white, were Aaron (no.7), Eden (no.8), Junrong (no.10), Weihao (no.11) and Ekbadin (no.12).  The first team from Kranji, in red jerseys, comprised of Delvin Goh (no.4), Reuben Neo (no.5), Hui Kah Meng (no.7), Daren Yap (no.10) and Qiao Shuai (no.14).

Delvin Goh and Qiao Shuai, the two tallest boys on court, were the twin towers of Kranji that terrorized Kheng Cheng throughout the first period. (Ed: Delvin must really be at least 1.7m in height. I knew that when he walked right by me. )  Easily towering a head above their respective defenders, they were practically unstoppable in their offense and unpenetrable in their defense.

Kranji’s Delvin Goh (no.4) attempts a shot under the basket against Kheng Cheng’s Ekarat (no.5). © Leslie Tan/Red Sports     

Delvin started the first period by easily winning the ball-tip and Kranji immediately went on to execute their key strategy of the game:  to pass the ball into the paint to either of the twin towers.  Qiao Shuai got the first pass under the basket, missed the basket because of an anxious shooting foul by Kheng Cheng’s defender but easily converted his first two free-throws into the first points for his team.  After forcing a quick turnover in Kheng Cheng’s offense, Kranji went on a counter-attack, this time with Delvin scoring two easy points under the basket. 

Kheng Cheng faced some early challenges in the game, with Kranji guarding their home too well.  A drive into the paint by Kheng Cheng’s Junrong was foiled when Kranji’s Hui Kah Meng stripped the ball on the dribble.  The ball went loose but found its way into the hands of Kheng Cheng’s Eden.  A field-goal attempt was hurriedly made but Delvin the tower sent the supporters wild with his first block of the day.  The ball continued in Kheng Cheng’s possession, but only for a short while before Kah Meng made his next steal and exploded on a fast-break to put his team up on an early 6-0 lead.

It took some time before Kheng Cheng was able to realize some offensive efforts.  A fast-break opportunity arose from some good defensive work, and the Kheng Cheng boys grabbed it.  Aaron, Kheng Cheng’s playmaker with a quick mind and impressive on-court vision, went on a quick dribble down the right, spotted teammate Eden sprinting down the left and made a timely pass to Eden unguarded under the basket for their first two points.

Kranji’s Delvin went on to find another easy two under the basket, and to execute another block on the defensive end.  His menacing presence in the defensive zone, unified with his team’s tough defence, forced Kheng Cheng into making field-goal attempts outside the paint, some taken rather hurriedly – like the wild shot made by Weihao that made me wonder if it was really intended to be a pass to no one instead.

As time was running out in the first period, Kheng Cheng found themselves in another fast-break opportunity, again with Aaron at the helm of the play.  He made another quick pretty pass to teammate Weihao in the paint, who attempted a basket but got a shooting foul instead.  He managed to convert only the first of his free-throws, scoring the last point for Kheng Cheng in the first period.

The period was not quite over for Kranji, as Delvin made another easy dribble down at the baseline into the paint for another basket.  He would have contributed two more points for his team but he missed his next two free-throws.

In the seconds running down to the first-period buzzer, Kheng Cheng’s playmaker Aaron set up a play that could have been finished beautifully with two more points if time had permitted.  He attempted to drive in for an attack at the top of the zon, drawing all the defenders towards him and allowing Weihao to sneak down the left lane into the paint.  With a good eye and fast hands, Aaron passed the ball to his unguarded teammate – but this was also when the buzzer went off.

Kranji led at the end of the first quarter 10-3.

Kheng Cheng’s Weihao goes for a lay-up despite Kranji’s Delvin Goh’s presence. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports     

The second team for Kheng Cheng comprised of Kelvin (no.4), Ekarat (no.5), Joel (no.9), Benny (no.13) and Yicheng (no.15), while that of Kranji was made up of Ivan Chua (no.9), Viknesann (no.11), Heng Wei Yao (no.12), Ang Jing Hao (no.13) and Teo Bing Qiang (no.15).

With the twin towers of Kranji sitting out this entire second period, Kheng Cheng wasted no time in gaining a foothold back in the game, dominating the offense and outscoring their opponents, putting the game back into a 4-point difference at the end.

But it was Kranji who first continued with their scoring run.  A quick attack by Viknesann gave him two early free-throws, only one of which was converted.  But he quickly followed up in the next attack with a jumper after making a steal, and gave his team a 13-3 lead in less than two minutes.

An early 10-point trail might have demoralized any other opponent, but Kheng Cheng stepped on their accelerator instead, and started on their offensive dominance.  Putting up a tough defence, they capitalized on the ensuing counter-attacks and went on a 6-0 run.  Ekarat went on a fast-break to give his team the first two points of the quarter.  Then luck seemed to be on Kheng Cheng’s side for a while, as Kelvin found a loose rebound in his hands and popped in an easy two under the basket.  The next team-play saw Benny spotting an unguarded Ekarat under the basket and making a quick clever pass for another two points.  Kheng Cheng had suddenly cut Kranji’s lead to a mere 4 points as they trailed 9-13 at this point.

Kranji, recognizing the sudden surge in their opponent’s morale, started to downplay Kheng Cheng’s momentum by deploying a tighter defence and a specific man-marking on Kheng Cheng’s Benny.  On the offensive end, which had turned out rather cold in this quarter, Viknesann took matters into his own hands when he went on a fast-break to the basket, finishing his lay-up move with a right-handed hook. 

Before the quarter was over, Kheng Cheng continued with their attacks, drawing shooting fouls but unfortunately failing to convert them.  In the last play, Benny stepped up once again, grabbing a rebound off the rim and making a quick pass to teammate Kelvin right under the basket for their last two points of the quarter.

Kheng Cheng trailed at the end of the first half by only 4 points, at 11-15.

Kranji’s Heng Wei Yao (no.12) makes a field-goal attempt. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports     

Whatever hope the Kheng Cheng boys had from their successful second-quarter run must have been doused in the third quarter when the twin towers of Kranji returned to the court – and never left again since.  Kheng Cheng, on the other hand, put their playmaker Aaron back into the game.

Kheng Cheng started the third with a continued offensive aggression when Weihao drove the baseline for a lay-up and momentarily brought the score to a close 2-point difference at 13-15.  Kranji continued with their man-marking defensive tactic, this time attempting to shut out Kheng Cheng’s Aaron.  Kranji scored the next points quickly with a field-goal from Daren Yap (no.10). 

Kheng Cheng answered with a bank-shot by Benny almost immediately, but unfortunately, those were also the last two points they could score in the rest of the period.  Kranji regained the dominance of the game when the twin towers found their legs warmed up again, though not without some initial stumbles.  Qiao Shuai committed two consecutive charging fouls, one against Kheng Cheng’s Aaron and the other against Weihao, as he attempted to drive toward the basket.

Delvin showed in this quarter as well, that he was not just a ‘giant’ with only a height advantage, but that he had excellent ball-handling skills to boot.  Making his first move toward the basket, he drew another shooting foul and converted one free-throw.  In the next play, he made a post-up move against Kheng Cheng’s Ekarat who had no way of stopping the pass to him.  Delvin received the pass down in the perimeter of the paint, swiftly did a turnaround dribble and popped in an easy two before the defender could recover.

Kranji’s Ivan Chua contributed two for the team when he converted both free-throws awarded on a baseline shooting foul.  But the rest of the quarter went to Qiao Shuai.  After committing the earlier offensive follies, including missing an open shot under the basket, he went on to score the next two goals – one off a rebound and the other from an assist in the paint.

Kranji went on a 11-4 run in the third quarter, and pull away to a massive 11-point lead by the end of the quarter.  The score stood at 15-26.

Kranji’s Ivan Chua (no.9) goes for a left-handed lay-up. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports     

It was an all-or-nothing mission in the final quarter, as both teams went on a scoring rampage.  Kranji’s Delvin continued to terrorize in the offensive end, while Kheng Cheng’s Aaron dazzled in his excellent defense. 

Once again, Kheng Cheng started the quarter with a field-goal from Weilun (no.6), following with an untiring defence.  A smart defensive move from Weihao drew another charge from Delvin, who also got the ball stripped from his hand as he was going for the basket in a subsequent play.

Delvin recovered quickly with an easy basket off a rebound.  With another rebound grabbed by Qiao Shuai, Kranji leapt to a 32-17 lead.  Kheng Cheng continued to impress with their defense, with Aaron making yet another steal from Kranji’s Ivan Chua and Ekbadin cutting off a lob pass to Delvin in the paint.  But none of their counter-attacks was converted into scores, and it was at this point that Qiao Shuai widened the score gap with a turnaround fadeaway.

Kheng Cheng found a little groove in their offense, probably a little too late in the quarter, as Kelvin and Joel chipped in four consecutive points with a field-goal each.  Aaron made another one of his steals again as he stripped the ball off Delvin’s drive to the basket.  Teammate Kelvin followed with a block of his own, foiling Qiao Shuai’s attempt at another fadeaway shot.

Kheng Cheng’s Ekbadin made the last field-goal of the game to add two more points for his team, but time had run out for his side.

Kranji finished the game as champions with a 36-24 victory over Kheng Cheng.

In the earlier nail-biting Senior Girls’ final, Kranji lost an initial 10-point lead in the game and had to face unrelenting challenge from Nan Chiau before they won the game 45-44 in overtime.

Congratulations, Kranji Primary on your double rewards!

Editor:  We might have gotten some of the players identified wrongly on the captions, so if you recognize yourselves or any of your friends, let us know!