Story by Ian Chew. Photos by Les Tan.
Chee Khan Liang (in white) of Anglican High with a one-handed jumper as Delvin Goh (#14) of Unity tries to throw him off. (Photo 1 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
Toa Payoh Sports Hall, Tuesday, August 26, 2008 – Anglican High School used a pivotal 21-2 run in the third quarter to effectively seal the national inter-school basketball final match against Unity Secondary. The gap proved too big for a demoralised Unity as Anglican High subsequently cruised to a 76-61 win to end a 13-year wait for a National C Division Boys Basketball Championship title.
Anglican High forward Sherwin Yen was instrumental for his team during this period, driving strongly to the basket for 15 of his 31 points as well as racking up assists for his teammates. He was later named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for his efforts.
Both teams had qualified for the final with unbeaten records, ensuring a much-anticipated encounter. Anglican High though had the brighter start of the two, jumping to an early 7-2 lead. The key players for the team in white were already apparent by this stage, with centres Jeremy Quah (#5) and Tan Jun Wei (#11) contributing to the team score together with Sherwin. Their greater team desire was rewarded with a 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Unity came roaring back in the second quarter, with their own big three leading the way. Peter Soo (#5), Remus Low (#9) and centre Delvin Goh (#14) made full use of their height advantage to pour in 16 points for their team during this period. The Anglican High players also found no way through the tall Unity defense and ended up staring at a 28-32 deficit by the end of the first half.
It seemed at this stage that Unity had settled on their offensive rhythm after their opening jitters and looked set to repeat their T-Net Cup win over Anglican High earlier in the year. However, Unity’s point guard Desmond Chua (#6) picked up an unnecessary fourth personal foul towards the end of the second quarter which would come back later to haunt the team.
Sure enough, he could only watch from the bench in a strange third quarter that saw Unity completely unravel.
Heavily pressured by a gutsy Anglican High defense, the Unity players committed numerous turnovers which resulted in fast break points for their opponents. None of the Unity players could step up to carry the team’s offense at this stage, and the lack of attacking ideas saw the Unity players attempting hopeful 3-point shots which proved largely unsuccessful.
It did not help that Sherwin was hitting his peak form at this stage, being involved in virtually every offensive basket for his Anglican High team. Anglican High ended with a huge 59-40 advantage after the third quarter.
Any hopes of a Unity comeback were snuffed early in the fourth quarter when Desmond picked up his fifth foul. His teammates were also guilty of fluffing their free throw opportunities to ensure that Anglican High enjoyed at least a 15-point cushion lead throughout the last quarter.
Both Sherwin and point guard Chee Khan Liang (#7) from Anglican High suffered leg cramps and had to be carried out of the game, but it hardly affected the result. In the end, a more disciplined and effective team play by Anglican High triumphed over a talented Unity squad.
MVP award winner Sherwin Yen though played down his contributions to his team’s win after the game.
“Our team defense was the number one priority. That was the key to our win,” he explained.
He also paid tribute to his opponents.
“It was a very hard fought game which could have gone either way. I think that the game would have been even more competitive if Unity Sec had all their players available for the game,” he said, referring to the injured Unity forward David Soo (#7) on the bench. Unity’s top scorer in the group stages had unfortunately fractured his leg in an earlier semi final match with Raffles Institution.
But that was to take nothing away from a well deserved win by Anglican High.
Unity had at least the satisfaction of winning one of the two championships at stake when they clinched the C Division girls basketball title with a convincing 62-46 win over Dunman Secondary in an earlier final.
Tan Jun Wei (#11) of Anglican High drives to the basket. Sitting on the bench with his right leg in a cast is David Soo of Unity. His fracture cost him a final appearance and his team missed his aggressiveness, especially under the basket. (Photo 2 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
Sherwin Yen of Anglican High goes for two. (Photo 3 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
Remus Low of Unity tries to get pass past Chee Khan Liang of Anglican High. (Photo 4 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
Remus Low of Unity shoots for two over the outstretched hand of Chee Khan Liang. (Photo 5 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
Peter Soo (#5) of Unity looks for an open teammate. (Photo 6 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
Tan Zhi Sen of Anglican High goes on a layup. His strong defensive game helped to shut down the Unity offensive threat. (Photo 7 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
Chee Khan Liang of Anglican High is helped off the court after going down with cramps. (Photo 8 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
Sherwin Yen goes for an open jumper. (Photo 9 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
At the final buzzer, Sherwin celebrates with teammate Jesper Choo (back to camera). (Photo 10 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
Tan Jun Wei (#11) of Anglican High celebrates the victory… (Photo 11 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
…and so does Zhi Sen (left) and Khan Liang. (Photo 12 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
The players take a bow to acknowledge their supporters… (Photo 13 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
and their happy schoolmates return the affection. (Photo 14 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
I feel that the game was very one sided. You guys may say refs are not perfect, but to call so many wrong fouls are really too biased. Even if Unity would have lost, they shouldn’t have lost by so much. And Anglican was getting too cocky in the finals man.
After reading some comments, pls double check some staff.
In the inter sch tournament, there’s a clause that only the teacher in-charge can approach and clarify with the official in case of any doubts.( Not the coache.) In that case, Unity teacher in-charge did the right procedure to approach the official. The referee did stop the game after a basket made by AHS and i believe he’s going over to answer any doubts, but sad to say he allow the conversation to be done in front of the table officials instead of doing it in the unity team beach area. Which is then the right way to solve queries during game.( From what i see in international games and some pro. leagues.)
For the bad play by Unity boys, I can only ask a few questions to all, if you drive in for a layup and get push or pull for almost all the plays and no call is been made by the official, would you still want to drive in? For shooting, once you release the ball and you got bump by the defensive player that cause you to almost lost your balance or even a leg right below you before you land is it safe when the officials are not calling it during the game??????
Lets be franked and think about it.
since you said that we cant judge a game by calling the matches, you cant judge a game through the points too man. pls understand.
Actually it is Unity bad plays and Anglican fast breaks . but the anglican spectators are a lil too unsportmanship ? jeering for the other school ? that’s a dsigrace to their school . did they teach them how to be respectful ? At least unitians didn’t jeer for nothing .
to the horrible spectator, maybe it was because of the loud cheering or jeering of the crowd or maybe u are just deaf. how did you know the teacher argued with the referee. he told me that he asked POLITELY but maybe because the referee was so rigid that he called a t-foul.
teachers obviously do not have the right to interfere but like what llmaos said, they have the right to CLARIFY. in case u do not know, please check the dictionary.
why cant the organisers get all referees to go through a selection to choose the best ref for every final game?(not asking for “spectator’s” opinion).
hello, this is the finals?! but i dont see there is any fairness in the way the play is judged…. the TF should not be given to the teacher in charge! okays, even if the teacher said something wrong or rebutted back to the refree. he wasnt wrong. he did not even shout at the refree.he just wanted an explanation and to clarify and because he wanted to protect his team. if the game were to be judged carefully and fairly, then all these should not have happened. ! actually, in skills unity is a lot better than anglican! unity beat jurong by so many marks, and anglican only won them by a little.!
* not referring to anyone specifically.
You can’t judge a game by recalling the matches..
eg, unity won jurong by a vast number of points while ahs won jurong by just 3. People do improve, you can’t expect people to stay in that state forever, as time goes, players improve, or the coach has found out special tactics that may win the game.
Don’t always stay in the past, look forward to the future. You can’t stay as a winner if you dwell on to the past forever.
IN conclusion, stop using stuffs like the PAST to compare with the present.
And for the Tfoul, i agree that the coach is trying to clarify with the refs, but does he know the golden rule in the court? Don’t ever try to outtalk the refs, they’re the refs, please respect their decision.
This is an unbiased way of looking things, all i can say is, maybe AHS was on fire in that quarter while Unity can’t keep up with them.
Maybe the Refs are alittle biased, but how come Unity can’t out score AHS to win? A 20pt gap is too big. Please, use your brains:)
its already all over ahs win than win lor . but nice game
i dun agree wif i agree and somebody..doesnt mean tt if unity beat jurong by alot n ahs win jurong by three means unity will win tis game….n the refree will not affect the game…its just tt the untiy players haf not plyed well ….n ahs haf palyed better…tts all i can sae
its jasper choo,not jesper choo
i agree with what somebody said. unity should win. they could win if the play is judged better,. yeah, unity beat jurong by so much and anglican only beat by a little. unity should win lorhs… !
oh and being the ref for east zone games doesnt mean they support east zone games. they have been selected to ref the finals because the whole committee of the organisers trust that they are good so do not doubt that.
well, a win’s a win i suppose, and the blaming of refs and conditions are just retarded. you cant expect a ref to be perfect, i mean u can try standing there and ref a game and expect ppl to say you’re a fair ref? i dont think so. both teams put in their best, and it just turns out that AHS won, thats all. congrats to both teams =D uphold sportsmanship, lose with pride Unity there’s still hope in the later years, and AHS being humble is being a true champion.
you guys are just jealous ? the ref gave the Tfoul because the teacher-in-charge persistantly argued about the call. the ref signalled him to back off but yet, he continued arguing. he deserved the tech.
the refs have the most authority on court, teachers/coach should not interfere with their calls. i applaud to what the ref did ytd.
he is the first ref that actually did what he was suppose to do. well done.
the game is really damn obvious that unity will win.untiy beat jurong by so much but anglican only managed to win jurong 3points. its really not fair. anyway, unity so mani ppl not playing confirm lose la………and the ref are obviously bias
i dont see a reason why a T foul was given. clarifications are needed ok, esp when the ref. dont seem to be really FAIR
And AHS players had their hair un-shaved already oh! 😀
I didn’t notice the TFoul. Hmm. Can look into that. But I think the ref was a bit biased with Anglican in the second quarter, which may result their fightback doubled to prove the ref’s they are strong.
Finally the tournament is over and I wish to congratulate Anglican High players (but NOT to their Coach and Teacher-in-charger) for their teamwork to win this Championship Title. I purposely applied half day leave to allow me to go to the Toa Payoh Sport Hall as I am more interested of which 2 officials (referees) will take charge of the final game (I think most of the spectators in the hall have the same objective). Before the game started, I already know who will win the title in my mind as the 2 officials who handled the East zone school tournaments regularly, where is the fairness? (I am not the supporter of Unity School)
I also can’t understand why the senior official gave a Technical Foul to the Unity teacher-in-charge (such a soft type person) during the game? He just wishes to clarify on an incident; the official stopped the game to explain and no argument involved, why the Technical Foul was given?
Jeremy Quah is #8. Not only the #5 & #7 cramps, center Tan Jun Wei #11 also cramps in the 4th quarter.