BASKETBALL

National ‘A’ Division Boys Quarterfinal
Victoria Junior College vs Anderson Junior College
Wednesday, 9 May 2007, at Singapore Basketball Centre

Story by Lee Hwee Cheng.  © Red Sports /soulbreath pictures
The following pictures in this report have been kindly taken and contributed by Shaun Chook, our student-photographer and regular volunteer from Victoria Junior College.  Thanks, Shaun!

"The Battle of the Sixes":  AJC’s Yan Ming (in black) fends off the attention of VJC’s Daniel.  © Shaun Chook

In another quarterfinal game on Day One, Anderson Junior College (AJC) trailed early but persevered in the final two periods to edge out Victoria Junior College (VJC) 52-46 to better their own chances for that much-coveted runner-up position in the ‘Group of Death’.

If the first period was of any indication of what was to come, it was destined to be a close race right from the start as Anderson stuck close behind Victoria and indicated they were going to be a tough one to shake off.  VJC had started off with the lead right from tip-off, as Kenneth (no.13) won it hands-down (no pun intended) and sent an immediate assist to teammate Wei Deng (no.4) who had already begun his sprint down the left lane towards the basket.  By the third minute, the game was level at four points apiece. 

Then in a shooting spree, VJC’s Wei Deng sank in the first three-pointer of the game to regain the lead, only to be immediately nullified by a three from AJC’s Kiang Li Rong (no.7).  Another jumper from VJ put them ahead by two again but this time, AJC’s Li Rong fired his second consecutive three-pointer to lead by one.  Then an assist from Li Rong who had jumped for a shot but spotted teammate Patrick Lim (no.10) free under the basket gave AJC a slight upper hand at 12-9.  Whatever boost the lead gave was, however, a short-lived one, as VJC went on in the last half of the period to score three free throws from Daniel (no.6) and Zhi Xin (no.9) and another three-pointer from Wan Xin (no.7), while AJC managed only to put in another jumper from Li Rong.  By the end of the first period, VJC were leading again, albeit by only a point, at 15-14.

VJC’s Zhi Xin (no.9) attempts to dribble past AJC’s Li Rong (no.7)  © Shaun Chook

The two teams continued racing neck and neck into the second period of the game.  After a scoreless first minute, it was VJC who first raised the temperature of the game when Zhi Xin made a three-point play with a foul-in basket from a rebound off teammate Daniel’s missed lay-up.  With only a four point gap to make up, AJC’s Patrick and Yan Ming (no.6) quicly contributed a jumper-in-the-paint and an easy under-basket respectively to level the game at 18-18.  Immediately, VJC’s Daniel pulled away with a three-pointer, but in less than a minute, VJC found themselves still lurking in the danger zone when AJC’s Patrick answered with an easy basket and Yan Ming contributed a free throw off a foul from a baseline drive to put the score level again at 21 points apiece. 

Refusing to be reined in, VJC broke away almost immediately with four straight points from Zhi Xin as he popped two easy assisted baskets in the paint.  With 3:32 in the half to go, AJC’s Samuel Ch’ng (no.4) drove into the left lane, then dished the ball to teammate Patrick who missed an easy open shot, but was saved by Andy Lee (no.12)’s rebound and the AJC boys made the score 23-25.  But that was the closest they would get to VJC before the half was over.  VJC’s Zhi Xin went on to put in two free throws and teammate Wei Deng finished the scoring for the team with a fast break, and the VJC team led at the end of the second period 29-23.

AJC’s Yan Ming (no.6) tries to get past the double-teaming of VJC’s Daniel and Wei Deng (no.4).  © Shaun Chook

After a rather sluggish first half, AJC’s Yan Ming finally stepped up in the third period as he seemed to have found the missing force to make steals, drives into the lanes for baskets and assists for his team.  He scored the first points of the period with a jumper within the first minute and then an uncontested fast break three minutes later.  A baseline three-pointer from teammate Li Rong in the seventh minute put the team just one point behind the leader again.  The final minute of the period belonged to AJC as they dominated the offense and scored the last six points with two free throws from Frederick Lim (no.15), another three-pointer from Li Rong, and a last free throw from Samuel who had gone on a buzzer-beating lay-up that missed.  VJC had suddenly gone muted in this period, overpowered by AJC’s more aggressive defense, forced into unnecessarily offensive errors and missing easy shots.  They had managed to score only three points in this period, all from free throws.  On the other hand, AJC had raged on with 13 points and ended up taking over the lead by the end of the period at 36-32.

VJC’s Shangyunn (no.5) shields the ball from AJC’s Siow Sheng-Zhong.  © Shaun Chook

The adrenaline level pumped up in the fourth period as VJC gave relentless chase to regain the lead while AJC fought to keep the leadership position, but the scores never got closer than the initial four-point difference.  And it was in this final period that one could conclude that both teams were on par in terms of skills and team spirit.  AJC’s Yan Ming had started the period with a jumper again, but VJC’s Zhi Xin answered immediately with a right-hand hook on a lay-up to keep his team close behind at four points.  Less than a minute later, AJC’s Andy drove in for an easy basket from the free throw line and Yan Ming followed with a baseline drive on a fast break that was finished with a reverse hook, and the lead was suddenly eight points.

AJC’s Samuel Ch’ng (no.4) protects ball from VJC’s Wan Xin (no.7).  © Shaun Chook

Both sides went on to take turns scoring, even with an exchange of three-pointers between VJC’s Daniel and AJC’s Li Rong at one point.  With four minutes left, after both sides each scored a free throw, the scores remained at eight points apart, AJC leading 48-40.  In the next twenty seconds, VJC’s Kenneth grabbed an easy offensive rebound under the basket and narrowed the gap to six points.  With only 2:28 left in the game, AJC were a little overzealous in the defense and found themselves in foul trouble.  Even as Andy found an easy basket after grabbing an airball from teammate Li Rong, they gave four free throws to VJC through their careless defense.  And with 44 seconds left on the clock, VJC had closed the gap to 46-51.  As time ran down to the final second however, VJC failed to regain possession of the ball for more chances at attack and instead gave a free throw to AJC when they landed in foul trouble themselves.

AJC had gone on a 16-point run in the final period, against VJC’s 14-point run, to keep the lead from the third period and take the overall game 52-46.



VJC’s Wan Xin (no.7) eyes AJC’s Yan Ming (no.6)’s next move.  © Shaun Chook

The AJC team.  © Shaun Chook

Editor’s note:  If you do recognize yourselves or any of your friends in these pictures, do drop us a note in the "Comments" section and we’ll update accordingly.  Thanks!