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)
nvm la ref lousy or the ref very pro . still the same . can the ref make ahs score to a 21-2 run ? cant rite so jus let it pass . see next yr
The truth of the matter is:
There are the ‘SENIOR’ Referees around who have all sort of ‘badges’ hanged over their neck… International Referees, Asian Cup Referees etc. They lived on past glories and yesteryears. They fail to keep upgrading their skills and always think they have made it.
The JUNIOR referees come along with aspirations to be the REAL REFEREES but when been led by the SENIOR ONES, became disillusioned and became ‘one of them’. So the vicious cycle carries on with the standard of BAS referees not getting any better.
I don’t want to get into the dirty word of ‘kelong’ among the referees but I think WE MUST ALL AGREE THAT BAS REFEREES DEPARTMENT must do some soul-searching; have the courage to weed out the ‘over the hill’ referees and bravery to listen to sincere feedback… that is if THEY REALLY WANT to see improvement.
Enough said, year in year out, we have heard so much of complaints regarding BAS referees, from Primary school, secondary, tertiary level to National League games. We can accept that they are not and will not be perfect. But when we see some of their arrogance and unwillingness to accept feedback, we wonder if it’s worth for Singapore to push for Youth Olympics and promoting sports.
Come on BAS, show us you really mean to promote basketball.
hmmmmm i seriously think that we cant see which team is stronger by seeing their scores on another team.So wat if ahs won jurong by 3 pts maybe they were not in a top form and it is not ahs fault that many players in the unity team were not playing.In my opinion,we should get referees from our neighbouring countries and get them to be the referees for the finals.That will be fair as they do not know which team is the best or anything else.Anyways… good job ahs. (:
they wrote N S D on thier arms..NEVER SAY DIE
khan liang and sherwin and jun wei was god send.
one on passing,one on scoring,one on rebounding.
THE BIG THREE OF AHS.
oh,whats the marking on the ahs hand?what they wrote?
Unitians should go and plan ahead for their MiloCup at the end of year to prove themselves that they can actually do it .
And as a spectator , i really hope that the finals of MiloCup will be carefully chosen. 😀
although refs doesnt’t really affect the match ALOT , but at least a lil ‘.
unity keep leaking den let 11 go in w/o any1 blocking la
and 1 of unity player is injured but anglican really did well.
BUCK UP AT ‘B’ division
With so many foul on Unity side by the so call ‘referee’at 2nd quarter do you think they can play all way out in the 3&4 quarter think again
Well, I went down to watch the match. All I can say is that I feel that Unity could play better. But overall, it was a very exciting game. I know Unity’s quite disappointed that y’all can’t get Nats champs, but I guess you have to admit that AHS was really playing very well. And well…the ref wasn’t very very impartial or whatever, but to err is human. I know it’s like finals so it’s very important. But well, it’s over, so just move on? There’s next year. Just train hard. The title will always be there for you as long as y’all work hard k. Jiayou to both teams.
if anglican play dirty, then you go play ping pong lah. won’t result in any injuries. better right? even if unity were the better team, but not being able to step up at the crucial moment. they don’t get the championship. it’s as simple as that. how biased can the referee be lah, to cause unity lose by 20 points.
they are the coach’s children. btw, unity no. 7 is a center/PF.
who cares if ahs won and unity lost? its just a empty cup left to rust. what is important is how you play and the memory of it. unity will pursue the same thing the next year. and no. 7 WILL play.
To Jihen: Do you even have evidence of Anglican High playing dirty? If you do, state them out, ALL. If it’s the truth, we’ll gladly accept it.
Don’t just think of putting Anglican High down by saying they play dirty.
Reasons for the loss.
1. Serious breakdown of communication between unity coach and players due to the loud cheers in the stadium.
2. Lack of quality guards in the 3rd quarter. Lack of determination to run back to defend the fast breaks.
3. Unity coach refused to use his 2nd time-out in the 3rd quarter when his team faced a serious one-sided situation.
4. Sherwin Yen step up in the big show.
5. Morale boast when AHS no.7 play well with ankle injury, with the help of a standby physiotherapist?!!!
6. Effect of injured Unity forward sitting at the bench: Increase of effort to win, decease of focus in the game.
7. Who is these kids sitting on the unity players’ bench, which forced the unity players to sit on the floor?
i agree!!! New season was start, let’s go to train hard now.
Hey excuse me guys, the game is over.
What’s done has been done, what is the use of being here trying to talk about who deserves the win and who doesnt?
Does it change the outcome of the game? No.
And look, reason why Anglican lost to Jurong by that slight margin was because of the refrees too, Please refer to the report on 21 August. They didnt whine because of that, and they won eventually, despite the bad calls.
Besides, the spectators have the liberty to do what they want. Jeering is perhaps, a little rude, but excuse me, what is most important in a FINALS, is the atmosphere, and it is also about the competition between the spectators of the various schools, to see who shows more support for their own team. I’m sure you guys have watched the Olympics, didnt you people see the Chinese jeering for the opposing teams and cheering for their own team? Why dont you write a report on their jeerings and criticize them about it? Come on, be a sport, jeering is just adding to the atmosphere to the game and to cheer their own team on.
Stop arguing about who deserve the victory. Both teams had played a truly amazing game and the better performance put up between the 2 teams, won. Nothing in life is fair, and in basketball, anything can happen, and sometimes luck plays a part too. We are not in the nba, guys, no such thing as best of 7 finals, so stop arguing about a verdict that cannot be changed.
Move on, people.
everything according to the FIBA rules book, you can find many answer. You think that the referee unfair, why? You think the referee is good, then why? I saw many school have videocam to record the game, can somebody find the video and post to watch, how the referee judge in this game. I think that will better. Anyway, game is over.
Maybe next time can set up a committee to vote for the best referees in the tournament then request them to referee the finals.
BTW any referee(s) who are good but was not selected to referee the final????
Unity is obviously better than Anglican high.
Anglican high plays dirty to get their game plan right.
I look down on those people who blames the referee when they lose the match. You people should start thinking why you lose and not pushing the blame to the referees.
Only if you people were to know the game better, then you will appreciate the game better.
*Think..
I think next time the organizer can set up a committee to vote for top 4 referees in the tournament and then send their names to the referee in-charge and request them to referee the finals. “Can suggest but will not happen.” Anyway in the national any good referees??? Good but not selected to referee the finals.
One more thing, the officials try to reduce the gap of the fouls from both teams as they last quarter then start calling cheap fouls on AHS players which i think it’s really unfair. In the end it might look better in black and white.
I believe ppl are there to watch a great game but just too bad it’s not.