TJC advance to A Division girls basketball semi-finals after win over Dunman High

Story by reader Erwin Wong. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports.

Singapore Basketball Centre, Friday, May 8, 2009 - Temasek Junior College capitalized on a lightning-quick start to the game and coasted to a 48-38 victory over Dunman High School in an A Division Girls’ basketball quarter-finals game.

TJC led from start to finish in the Group Y encounter and were only briefly threatened midway through the fourth quarter when DHS pulled to within 4, but they then closed out the game with a 9-3 run. With the win, TJC advance to the semi-finals where they will face defending champions Hwa Chong Institution.

The match was expected to be a closely-fought affair, as both teams, along with National Junior College, had played out such games between each other, behind runaway group leader Victoria Junior College. But that did not pan out from the tip-off, as TJC's Hong Shanmin took matters into her own hands. She scored 6 unanswered points on easy baskets as DHS struggled to find their way in the game. Their long-range jumpers did not find the target, and they rarely rebounded their own misses.

Defensively, they attempted to trap TJC with a half-court man-to-man press, but their opponents broke through far too easily for uncontested baskets. He Ran and Yap Hui San added two more such layups, and when Shanmin penetrated the baseline and dished to an unmarked Annmarie Pang under the basket, DHS found themselves staring at a 12-0 deficit.

They finally got on the scoreboard when Yap Qian Jun sank a long 2, but their work was already cut out for them as they had to chase a 2-14 deficit after the first quarter.

DHS started to get active on the offensive boards in the second period, but could not convert 3 consecutive second-chance opportunities as TJC increased their lead to 21-6 when Ruby Phong scored 5 of her 10 points early on in the period. DHS managed to reduce the deficit to 10, but went into the half trailing 11-23.

Dunman then came out firing in the third period. Qian Jun's jumper was the first points of the half, and then Cheong Lichang stole the TJC inbounds pass immediately and was fouled as she looked to convert the easy 2. A flagrant foul was called and though she only converted 1 of 2 free throws, DHS retained possession and Lichang's layup made it 16-23. She then completed the sequence of events by going down her defensive end and blocked a TJC shot.

TJC increased their lead to 11, but their opponents would not go away quietly as a scoop layup from Chia Wan Ting and a reverse lay-in by Chiang Yi Chen made it 7 point game again. Dunman's continued pressure defence started to wilt their opponents as their turnover count increased, but TJC still managed to lead by 11 twice more in the quarter, as they went 8 of 10 from the charity stripe, only for DHS to respond accordingly. They outscored TJC 15-12 in the quarter.

TJC still led by 9 in the final period after a free throw from Ruby, but DHS clawed their way back as they mounted a furious surge in a bid to salvage their ailing hopes of advancing. They had to win this game by a relatively big margin and then hope for a favorable result from the VJC-NJC game, and gave themselves a shot at the former goal when they scored 5 unanswered points to trail by only 4 points at 35-39, with 4 minutes to play.

But TJC were keen not to undo their excellent start to the game, and responded well. A balanced attack as well as crucial defensive stops down the stretch saw them embark on a 9-0 run which finally broke the DHS resolve.

Said TJC captain Hui San after the 48-38 victory: "We could have done better in this match, but I'm glad we went all out to get the win. It has been very long time since we've made it to the semis!"

She declined to comment on the choice of opponents (which was undetermined at that time, but now confirmed as Hwa Chong Institution), but knew how they were going to approach the game. "We want to keep our morale high, by encouraging and cheering for each other."

DHS lineup:
#4 Chiang Yi Chen
#5 Yap Qian Jun
#6 Seah Qian Ye
#7 Chan Yan Ling
#8 Shermaine Soh
#9 Dinah Chua
#10 Cheong Lichang
#11 Chia Wan Ting
#12 Ng Jia Hui
#13 Paw Xin Hui
#14 Chen Shu Jun
#15 Then Co Mint

TJC lineup:
#4 Hong Shanmin
#5 He Ran
#6 Lee Lee Ying
#7 Yap Hui San
#8 Grace Ang
#9 Ruby Phong
#10 Denise Lim
#11 Ng Teng
#12 Alicia Pe
#13 Annmarie Pang
#14 Elysia Ong
#15 Anooja Rai

Scoring breakdown by quarter:
DHS v TJC
1st Q: 2-14
2nd Q: 9-9
3rd Q: 15-12
4th Q: 12-13
Final score: 38-48

Leading scorers:
Hong Shanmin (TJC) 16 points
Ruby Phong (TJC) 10 points
Chia Wan Ting (DHS) 10 points
Seah Qian Ye (DHS) 8 points