Seng Kang Secondary thump Christ Church in B Division North Zone basketball

Story by REDintern Alan Chiang, Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports.

Singapore Basketball Centre, Monday, February 16, 2009 - Seng Kang Secondary booked their place in the second round after a convincing 58-36 victory over Christ Church Secondary in their boys' B Division North Zone Basketball Championship match.

The match began with Christ Church making the first attack but it soon became clear that the Seng Kang dominance in the paint gave them easy offensive rebounds. Christ Church changed their game plan and with some crisp passing, Xin Ze (CHR #11) made a good-looking shot. Xin Ze (CHR #11) then stole the ball and assisted for Wei Xiang (CHR #8) to drive to the basket.

Seng Kang turned the game around after Shi Long (SKS #13) drained two consecutive shots. Their lead increased to four points as Gerald (SKS #9) contributed with a layup. It was a 9-point lead soon after Christ Church committed a series of turnovers. The Shi Long (SKS #13) and Gerald (SKS #9) combination together with fast break tactics saw Seng Kang finish the first quarter with a huge 18-point lead at 22-4.

The massive lead allowed the Seng Kang coach to replace his first team players with the reserves to start the second quarter. With a weakened side, Christ Church took advantage and drew first blood. They were greatly determined to reduce the deficit but a couple of turnovers let Seng Kang come back into the match. Jia Wei (SKS #12) and Ivan (SKS #8) spearheaded the offense with each contributing four points in that quarter to give their team a 30-11 second quarter lead.

After the half-time break, Christ Church showed up with a quicker offense and stronger defense and Seng Kang soon lost their shape.

The match stopped for four minutes in the third quarter when Kenneth (CHR #13) appeared to have sprained his ankle and was prone on the court. Seng Kang resumed the match with Fang Qi (SKS #15) getting two points in the paint and Sze Kang (SKS #6) then added another two points to take the match to 42-22.

Seng Kang continued to control the paint with Han Boon (SKS #14) supplying eight points in the final quarter. Mid-way through the final period, Seng Kang got their highest lead of 25 points but Gareth (CHR #14) put in eight points in the quarter to give his team something to cheer about. Gareth (CHR #14) and Wei Xiang (CHR #8) worked hand in hand to reduce the lead to 19 points but it was inevitable that Seng Kang finished off the game 53-34 winners.

With the win, Seng Kang finished second in Group B to qualify for Round 2 of the North Zone Basketball Championship.

Match statistics:

Points by quarter
1st Q: CHR 4 - SKS 22
2nd Q: CHR 11 - SKS 30
3rd Q: CHRS 22 - SKS 42
4th Q: CHR 36 - SKS 58

Top scorer
CHR
Gareth (#14) - 12 points
Gastper (#15) - 6 points

SKS
Han Boon (#14) - 14 points
Lester (#10) - 13 points