Raffles Institution survive late scare against Victoria JC and will meet Hwa Chong in the A Division Girls' Basketball final

Story by REDIntern Alan Chiang, Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

Singapore Basketball Centre, Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - Raffles Institution had to work hard in the final period as they clinched a 37-30 win against Victoria JC in the A Division Girls’ Basketball semi-finals.

Raffles had to survive a late scare from Victoria in the fourth quarter where they were outscored by five points. But the comfortable lead they had built up earlier allowed them to loosen up at the offensive end as they stepped up a gear in their defensive efforts.

Victoria did not look like a team which had earlier secured three wins out of three in the quarter-finals. They were lost throughout the first half and particularly in the third quarter, where Raffles outscored them by seven points.

Raffles got on the board early on as Jamie Chow (#8) put in the game’s first points. They managed to extend their lead to seven points at 9-2, with Olivia Ng (RI #4) and Grace Fong (RI #5) contributing to the run. However, in the dying minutes of the quarter, Victoria embarked on a 4-0 run to cut the lead to three points at 9-6.

Victoria attacked the basket aggressively at the start of the second quarter and scored the period’s first points, but Raffles maintained a 6-point lead as both sides aimed to match each other skills and points alike. Raffles were able to deal with the threats from Victoria, and hung on to a 5-point lead at half-time.

The third quarter was decisive for Raffles and they scored as many as 16 points. But it certainly did not look that way at the restart as both teams were slow to recover from the half-time break. However, Raffles soon had the upper hand at the offensive court as they began to put points up.

The tide was reversed as the third quarter progressed. Victoria were able to reduce the deficit to three points before another rally from Raffles spurred them on to a 7-point lead. That did not last long for Raffles as defensive errors invited the Victoria players to attack the paint, and they cut the lead down to three.

After a timeout, Raffles immediately broke the game open with an 8-3 run through Liew Si Hui (#7), Jamie (#8) and Joelynn Ng (#9), and extended their lead to 12 points at the end of the third quarter, with the score 33-21.

The fourth and final quarter proved to be risky for Raffles as they switched to a defensive mode instead of attack. The result was that Victoria managed to outscore them 9-4, but their late revival in the game did not help their cause to a great extent, and they failed to overcome the huge deficit. Raffles coped with Victoria's resurgence late in the game and held on for the win.

This semi-final victory places Raffles in a match-up with Hwa Chong Institution in the final.

Ms Elaine Wong, the RI teacher-in-charge, said, "This win is very important to us. We know that VJC were very strong and our team had to focus right from the start. I guess we are able to outlast them."

RI’s captain Tan Yen Lin (RI #15) said, "I will speak for every team member since I didn't get to play much also. We have equal responsibilities, either on the court or on the bench."

On why the team were losing points in the final period, she said, "We changed our focus to a better defence instead of scoring since we had a huge margin earlier in the game. That was also to help us to keep our cool."

The team's next game will be against the dynamic Hwa Chong Institution. She said, "We will give our all. We have to be mentally strong since we have met so many times before."

Putting on a positive note, she added, "All in all, we just hope to raise Singapore's basketball standards."

In another semi-final between defending champions Hwa Chong Institution and Temasek JC, it was a one-way traffic as Temasek JC were trounced by 82 points, 113-31. With such a huge margin of victory, it sent out a clear message that Hwa Chong Institution will be the hot favourites to retain their championship title.

Match Statistics:
Scores by quarter
1st Q: RI(JC) 9 - VJC 6
2nd Q: RI(JC) 8 - VJC 6
3rd Q: RI(JC) 16 - VJC 9
4th Q: RI(JC) 4 - VJC 9

Score sheet
RI(JC)
Liew Si Hui (#7) - 9 points
Jamie Chow (#8) - 8 points
Olivia Ng (#4) - 7 points
Grace Fong (#5) - 5 points
Vienna Chua (#14) - 4 points
Joelynn Ng (#9) - 2 points
Christiane Wong (#11) - 2 points

VJC
Chen Botin (#15) - 7 points
Tay Yin Ling (#4) - 6 points
Sarah Cheong (#5) - 6 points
Clara Chua (#14) - 6 points
Elaine Ong (#9) - 3 points
Lydia Chiew (#11) - 2 points