SCGS and Jurong West through to semi-finals in B Division basketball

By Koh Yizhe/Red Sports

Clementi Sports Hall, Monday, April 19, 2010 – Singapore Chinese Girls' School (SCGS) and Jurong West Secondary are through to the semi-finals of the National B Division Basketball Championship after the latter edged out SCGS 42-41.

Coming into the match, Jurong West had to beat SCGS to qualify for the last four after they lost to Yishun Town Secondary 55-49 the day before. SCGS had already beaten Yishun Town Secondary by 13 points and Woodgrove Secondary earlier to secure a spot in the semi-finals.

Although Yishun Town beat Woodgrove in a concurrent match, they could only watch in horror as Jurong West pulled off an unlikely win over the South Zone champions. All three teams finished with five points, but Yishun Town were left out due to an inferior point difference in the head-to-head matchup between the three teams.

A day earlier, SCGS qualified for the semi-finals with a 49-41 victory over Woodgrove Secondary.

National youth player Tok Hui Min was missing from Woodgrove's starting five after she suffered a knee injury in an earlier match. It was evident that the team sorely missed her as they soon found themselves trailing by a massive 17 points in the second quarter.

She was eventually introduced at the end of the first half, but her presence was not enough to inspire her side to a victory. Although they gave SCGS a scare in the fourth quarter and pulled to within seven points, they were unable to overcome the South Zone Champions as they lost 49-41.

"I am satisfied with my team's performance," said SCGS coach Chiew Poh Leng after the match. "My team is made up of Secondary Threes, so they are not really experienced. Only Alanna (Lim) is more stable and experienced, so to pull off the win, I am quite satisfied."

"We were able to take a 17-point lead because Tok Hui Min wasn't playing. She is their main player and maybe if she played in the first quarter, they might have won," added coach Chiew.

When asked for her preference of semi-final opponents, she said, "I don't have any. All teams are strong at this point. The fact that we are in the top four is a bonus. We didn't expect it."

After SCGS' second victory against Woodgrove, the pressure was on Jurong West to beat SCGS and they responded well as they held the lead for most of the match. Lee Qiuhui (#5) and Amanda Lee (#14) led the scoring for Jurong West with 13 and 12 points respectively. Gladys Molino scored 14 points for SCGS while Alanna added another eight.

SCGS were always within striking distance and managed to take a 41-37 lead in the closing minutes. However, Jurong West fought back with Ng Xiao Fen (#10) making a free throw before Amanda scored four straight points to put her side on top.

Alanna then had the chance to regain the lead for SCGS with a pair of free throws, but she missed both from the charity stripe, allowing Jurong West to qualify for the semi-finals while sending Yishun Town crashing out.

SCGS will next play defending champions Dunman Secondary in one semi-final, while Jurong West will face Jurong Secondary in a repeat of the West Zone zonal championship semi-final. Both matches will be played at 1330 hours at Clementi Sports Hall on Friday, April 23, 2010.

For more photos of the match, go to the Gallery

Editor's note: If you recognise yourself or your team mates in any of the photos, please feel free to leave the names behind and we will update accordingly. Thanks!

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