Catholic High beat Queensway convincingly but still miss out on National B Division basketball semi-finals

Photo Story by REDintern Alan Chiang

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Ming Xuan (CHS #14) with a strong drive to the basket. (Photo 1 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)

Jurong West Sports Hall, Friday, April 17, 2009 - Catholic High beat Queensway Secondary 65-49 in a one-sided affair but still missed out on the National B Division Basketball Championship semi-finals on a countback.

Even before their game against Queensway, Catholic High did not have destiny in their hands because of earlier results and they were dependent on the outcome of the game between New Town Secondary and Presbyterian High on an adjacent court. New Town eventually beat Presbyterian High to leave Catholic High the odd man out.

With all three teams in their quarter-final group – Catholic High, Presbyterian High and New Town – finishing with identical 2-wins-1-loss records, the points differential between the three teams came into play.

In an earlier game, Catholic High beat New Town by one point but suffered a heavy 22-point defeat against Presbyterian High, leaving them at -21. New Town beat Presbyterian High by seven points, leaving them at +6 points. Presbyterian High were on a +15-point differential, and so they qualified together with New Town.

Both teams got off to a quick start only for Jia Jun (QSS #10) to commit a personal and technical foul for disagreeing with the referee's call. Things got worse for Queensway when one of their key players Johann Yeo (QSS #12) had to sit out with a twisted ankle when he landed awkwardly after fighting for a rebound under the basket.

Catholic took full advantage and dominated the match with great ease. The opening periods belonged to Catholic as they lead by as many as 14 points. They ended the first half leading at 31-19.

Catholic survived a scare as Queensway stepped up in the final quarter to cut their lead to five points. Queensway's fight back was led by Mike Tan (#6) with long range shots and Jia Jun (#10) with numerous under-basket shots.

However, they had no answer to Ming Xuan (CHS #14) and Jabez Su (CHS #4) who contributed 21 points each.

In the end, the victory was just a consolation for Catholic High, a school which won the National B Division Championship title for the last four years (04-08).

Match Statistics

Quarter-by-quarter scores
Queensway vs Catholic High
1st Q: 11-19
2nd Q: 19-31
3rd Q: 38-46
4th Q: 49-65

Leading scorers
Queensway
Jia Jun (#10) - 16 points
Mike Tan (#6) - 11 points

Catholic High
Ming Xuan (#14) - 21 points
Jabez Su (#4) - 21 points

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