Yishun Town beat Ahmad Ibrahim to clinch group in girls’ B Division North Zone Basketball

By REDintern Alan Chiang. Photos by Vanessa Lim.

Singapore Basketball Centre, Thursday, February 5, 2009 - Yishun Town Secondary defeated Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary 48-40 in a girls’ B Division North Zone Championship game to maintain a 100% record. With the win, Yishun Town clinched the top spot in Group X.

Both teams came into that match with 100% winning streaks. Yishun Town had won four matches out of four while Ahmad Ibrahim, three out of three. With supporters from both schools watching the game, the tension between both teams was at a high throughout.

At the first whistle, Yishun Town managed to grab hold of the first ball and started the game positively. But Yongmei's (AI #8) speedy movement allowed her to steal the ball and take the game under control.

Yishun Town employed fast breaks and half-court presses during the first period but while they clearly had more scoring opportunities, they failed to capitalize on them and finished the first quarter trailing 7-8.

Yishun Town came out in the second quarter with greater spirits and showed composure while trying to make more field goal attempts. But with tactical changes, Ahmad Ibrahim slowly showed signs of recovery and applied a full-court press to hold up the Yishun Town players.

Jing Ying (AI# 11) sparked a revival with two consecutive 3-pointers and Ahmad Ibrahim took its highest lead at 6 points when the first half came to an end by leading 20-14.

This caused the Yishun Town coach to flare up in frustration as he sought answers from his players during the half-time break.

Yishun Town picked up their game in the third period with better passing. They showed an all-round improved performance, particularly Lydia Sng (YTS #7), Lee Si Yi (YTS #12), Shermaine See (YTS #4), Sandra Goh (YTS #10) and Goh Jie Ying (YTS #5), who all drained big shots.

But they had no answers to Ahmad Ibrahim's Anzie (#7), who dropped seven points in that period to help her team maintain a 28-25 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Yishun Town began to focus on fast break tactics as Ahmad Ibrahim showed signs of exhaustion in the fourth quarter. Shermaine See (YTS #4) and Lee Si Yi (YTS #12) spearheaded the attack and managed a 9-3 run within the first three minutes of the final quarter. This forced the Ahmad Ibrahim coach to take a tactical time-out to calm the situation.

Both sides then continued to make shots but Ahmad Ibrahim started to give away possession with a series of turnovers and fouls which cost them the game. That allowed Yishun Town to take a five-point lead with the clock ticking down with Shermaine contributing 11 points and Si Yi adding nine points in the final period to ensure a final Yishun Town victory.

Match Statistics:

Biggest Lead
Yishun Town - 5 points
Ahmad Ibrahim - 6 points

Quarter-by-Quarter Scores
1st Q: YTS  7  AI  8
2nd Q: YTS  14  AI  20
3rd Q: YTS  25  AI  28
4th Q: YTS  48  AI  40

Top Scorers
Yishun Town
Shermaine See (#4) - 16 points   
Lee Si Yi (#12) - 14 points 

Ahmad Ibrahim
Anzie (#7) - 22 points
Jing Ying (#11) - 7 points