BASKETBALL
Catholic High – Taiwan Training Tour
4-Team Invitational Tournament
19-20 November 07, Jee Long County, Taiwan
Story and pictures by Red Sports reader Ian Chew, a teacher of Catholic High.
Chong Ming Xuan (#14, CH) shoots a free throw. Ming Xuan manages to score 21 points in Catholic High’s overtime 72-79 loss to Xin Yi. © Ian Chew
Catholic High's B Division basketball team managed to squeeze past Zi Qiang Secondary for its maiden win in their year-end Taiwan Sports Tour. They beat the 15-year olds from Hualian County 47-46 in a 4-team round robin competition played on Monday. The other teams include Zheng Bing Secondary and Xin Yi Secondary.
Trailing seven points with a minute to go at 39-46, the Catholic High B Division team miraculously pulled out an 8-0 spurt to pip the local Taiwanese team.
Centre Chong Ming Xuan coolly sank three consecutive free throws after being fouled while attempting a long-range shot with just 7 seconds left. The scores were then tied at 46-all.
The game looked destined for overtime when Zi Qiang Sec inexplicably turned the ball over and fouled Ming Xuan again with 2 seconds left on the clock! Ming Xuan then made one out of two free throws to seal a famous victory for his team.
The exertion in the morning seemed to take its toll on the Catholic High players in the same afternoon, however.
Facing the host school Zheng Bing Secondary, they failed to muster enough energy to compete and trailed the entire match to lose 62-69.
The Zheng Bing players, on the other hand, took the game with accurate shooting and energetic running, which seemed to be a hallmark of Taiwanese teams. The school has traditionally been a centre of excellence for the development of basketball in that area.
The final match of the competition proved to be a thriller between Taipei's Xin Yi Secondary and Catholic High. It was played on the following morning, 20 November, also at Zheng Bing Secondary in Jee Long County.
Xin Yi Secondary had impressed all the spectators with its tall and highly skilled basketball team, particularly with two forwards both standing at 1.9m tall. They had also boasted an unbeaten record coming into the final game, winning both their previous matches easily by more than 20 points.
Undaunted despite their tiring performance the previous day, the Catholic High team took the game to the favuorites, putting defensive pressure on their star forwards through an aggressive man-to-man defense.
Centre Chong Ming Xuan of Catholic High was also in sparkling form, scoring 21 points in the paint through good post moves and accurate turn around jumpers. Xin Yi’s key player Hu Long Xian (#8, Xin Yi) was in constant foul trouble and failed to display his usual array of skills. He eventually fouled out midway through the third quarter.
Unfortunately, Chong Ming Xuan had to retire from the game soon after as well due to a nasty cut on his head which required stitches.
Deprived of their best players, the game still produced enough excitement to go down to the wire, with Xin Yi scoring a lay up at the final buzzer to tie the game at 64 apiece and send it to overtime.
During overtime, Xu Xian Xiang (#7, Xin Yi) took over the scoring reins for his team, downing two 3-pointers en route to a game high 34 points for his team. His team eventually won 79-72, relegating Catholic High to fourth position overall in the competition.
Despite the losses, Jabez Su was still glad to be part of the competition.
"The matches with the Taiwanese schools have revealed a higher standard of basketball (by them) which we can aspire towards. It has also exposed many weaknesses and flaws in our team. We now can look forward to improving our skills in the upcoming training sessions and competitive matches back in Singapore."
The Catholic High senior team also chalked up their only win of the tour when they beat Nuan Nuan Senior High School 69-62. They finished with a total record of 1 win and 3 losses.
The Catholic High team will be returning from Taiwan on 22 Nov.
Zi Qiang Sec with Catholic High before the match. CH won narrowly 47-46. © Ian Chew
[…] When we arrived in Taiwan, it felt like home, at least for me. One reason was, it was my second time at a sports tour to Taiwan and another reason was that the environment was so much similar to that of Korea. We went to the same hostel as the previous year, which was a good thing because most of us were here the second time and were already used to the place. The next few days were very tough although we trained so hard in Singapore. Somedays we had two matches in that same day, along with trainings in the morining AND in the afternoon. On top of that, the Taiwanese players were more superior than our players physically which gave all of us a hard time defending them and getting through their defenses in matches. Basically, they were really good, yet very humble. Although they were literally trashing us, they still gave their best til the end. They lowered themselves and treated us nicely and cared alot about us and tried to make us feel at home. […]
[…] to be held over 2 days. Did Catholic High record their first victory in the tour? Find out at http://redsports.sg/2007/11/21/catholic-against-taiwanese/ Despite suffering a cut in his head (which required stitching!) Chong Ming Xuan still put in his […]
C boys are doing well, won all their games so far
hi guys. even though i am not in taiwan, i visit this site occasionally to be updated on how u guys are faring. recalling last year’s trip, how i wished i am there with u guys. hope u guys have fun there, learn stuff and learn how to apply them. all the best for next year,mates
I have learnt so many things playing against the Taiwanese team that it is difficult for me to choose which one to say first, but there is one thing I must say. The Taiwanese basketball players’ passion for the sport and the positive attitude towards it are the factors that make them outwit us in the game.
For example, the Taiwanese players are always willing to consider and accept what their coach tells them while many of our teammates do not wish to accept our coach’s words.
I think this is what causes the big gap between us and them.
Although this is second time we came to taiwan, but we still lost most of our games. However,despite losing to them, i still felt proud because we had given our best against the top 4 schools in Taiwan.
Last year we lost to Nan Shan by a huge margin of 40 points, yet we were able to improve on our performance this year and only lost by 22 points. This was done despite having only 6 players of which 4 of us were carrying injuries.
Besides the games, we visited many popular tourist attractions. The people there were all very friendly and were very sincere in their ways. I spent all my money!!! I am very happy as i was able to learn many things from the taiwanese.
Something to take note of: I am 195 cm tall playing the centre position in singapore but here in taiwan, i’m only suited for point guard position.
Althought this is second time we came to taiwan,but still lost most of the game.However,despite losing to them, i still feel proud of the game because we had given our best against the top 4 schools in taiwan. last year we lost to them by a huge margin of 40 points, yet we were able to improve on our performance this year and only lost by 22 points. this was done despite having only 6 players with 4 of them injured. Besides the games, we visited many popular tourist attractions, the people there were all very friendly and were very sincere in their ways. i spend money till i no money!!! I am very happy as i was able to learn many things from the taiwanese.
Something to take note of i am 195 cm tall playing the centre position in singapore but here i am only suited for point guard.
The competition with the secondary schools in taiwan was a real good gauge of our standards. Many of our flaws were exposed through the games that we had over a spread of 2 days. Although we finished up fourth, i feel that we have indeed learnt alot and now that we have pit ourselves against opponents with good skills, we have raised the level of our own standards. The taiwanese players are very quick and their basic skills are very good. Their attitude in the match is also commendable, i hope that we can learn from them and apply it in our own context.