Combined Schools (White) wins to keep alive Youth Cup basketball qualifying hopes

Pictures and story by Ian Chew/Red Sports.

Combined School’s centre Scott Driscoll (#11) leaps high for the rebound and also contributed 7 points as Nanyang CSC #9 (in white) looks on. He had an outstanding game however, with a game-high 21 points for his team. © Ian Chew/Red Sports)

Saturday, June 14, Yuhua CC – Singapore Combined School (White) team gave their qualification hopes for the U18 basketball Youth Cup a big boost when they defeated Nanyang CSC 79-50. Their record in the quarter final group stands at a win and a loss apiece after an earlier 78-49 beating by their Red team counterpart.

Despite consisting of just 15 and 16 year old players, they outplayed their older Nanyang CSC opponents, using a 31-11 fourth quarter spurt to register a 29-point victory. The fast tiring Nanyang team also were guilty of numerous turnovers and missed opportunities in that quarter to virtually press the self-destruct button.

Even more impressive was the fact that eleven of Combined Schools’ twelve players contributed points for their team in the game.

The win came as a huge confidence boost for Combined Schools’ centre Subhas Nair (#10), also a student of New Town Secondary.

“We still have a crucial match tomorrow (15 Jun) against Admiralty CSC, which we have to win in order to qualify. But I am confident we can achieve it,” he declared.

Nanyang CSC though were no pushovers. They kept the game close in the beginning stages with a barrage of 3-pointers. Singapore Schools could only manage a slender 27-25 lead at the end of the first half. But their fitness and strength in depth in the second half proved the difference, as Nanyang dug a deeper hole for themselves with two key players fouling out in the late stages of the game.

Any team that qualifies for the semi final would still have to face the spectre of playing Singapore Combined Schools (Red) though. They had underlined their favorite tag for the title by thrashing Admiralty CSC 120-38 to remain undefeated in the qualifying campaign so far.

Scorers for the Combined Schools (White) team:
#9 Adam – 14 points
#8 Ng Zhaofeng – 12 points
#7 Wu Qing De- 9 points
#12 Russel Low- 9 points
#11 Scott Driscoll – 7 points
#15 Tan Han Boon – 7 points
#6 Jabez Su – 6 points
#4 Edwin Tan – 4 points
#5 Jonathan Cher – 4 points
#10 Subhas Nair – 2 points
#13 Gerald Toh – 1 point

Subhas (#10, red) did his part for the Combined Schools team by keeping out the Nanyang CSC attackers and scoring 2 points as well. © Ian Chew/Red Sports)

The Combined Schools team triumphed with a team effort. Eleven of their twelve players got onto the score sheet. © Ian Chew/Red Sports)