Hwa Chong Institution trump Anderson JC to retain A Division boys’ basketball crown

By Kenneth Tan/Red Sports

Yishun Sports Hall, Wednesday, May 19, 2010 – Defending champions Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) retained their A Division Boy’s Basketball Championship crown after a 72-45 victory over Anderson Junior College (AJC).

Boasting the likes of national youth players Jabez Su (#4) and Russel Low (#5), there was no doubt HCI were the hot favourites to win the game. The task was made harder for AJC as their star centre Ang Wei Xian (#15) was ruled out of the game due to a neck injury obtained in the semi-final.

Despite that, AJC made the brighter start of the two teams and achieved a dream 6-0 lead within the first two minutes of the game to stun HCI who rested the duo of Jabez and Russel for the first quarter.

However they lost their momentum thereafter as HCI went on a superb 20-nil scoring run to peg back AJC. The HCI trio of Nio Yuan Ming (#11), Subhas Nair (#13) and Justin Nadar (#15) contributed 15 points out of the two. Yuan Ming scored all his 13 points in the first half.

AJC landed five straight points towards the end of the first quarter to narrow HCI’s lead to 20-11 but HCI’s Nio Yuan Ming made sure his team ended the quarter on a high as he landed a three-pointer to increase their lead to 12 points.

Jabez Su and Russel Low eventually came on in the second quarter and their introduction ensured a much more open game as both teams fought neck-to-neck for points.

AJC achieved their highest scoring quarter as they achieved 17 points which was no less due to their accurate three-point shooting. Captain Jong Kai Jie, Koh An Song and Eric Lin all scored 3-pointers respectively.

Jabez extended HCI’s lead to 13 points at the end of the second quarter with a superb piece of three-point play. He led his side with a game-high 16 points from eight of 13 field-goal shooting.

However AJC could not sustain their scoring form into the third quarter as they only managed to score three points despite making a flurry of shots.

On the other hand, HCI took advantage of a few turnovers and went on fast breaks to achieve 13 points in this quarter to stretch the lead to 54-31.

In the fourth quarter, HCI extended their lead to 60-33 before AJC’s Siow Wei-Zhong landed a superb three-pointer to pull it back to 60-36.

However that only served to fire up HCI as they went on another 12-nil run to achieve their highest lead in the game of 36 points with Jabez Su contributing six of them.

Despite the imminent loss, AJC ended the match with strong fighting spirit as they scored nine straight points back to reduce the deficit to 72-45, with Jong Kai Jie contributing six of them.

The scoreline meant AJC could only finish runners-up while HCI retained their A Division boys’ basketball crown.

Despite the loss, AJC coach Lim Kwee Chai remained proud of his players when interviewed after the match.

“I think my boys put in a very good performance today,” he said. “My key centre (Ang Wei Xian) was injured today, so to see the rest of them fight so hard on the court was really pleasing.”

“To face a team like HCI, I made them do a lot of mental preparation,” he responded when quizzed about how he prepared his players to face the defending champions. ” I told them they can lose to the opponents, but not to lose to themselves and give up without a fight.”

“Credit to them, they have transformed from a team that couldn’t work well together to one with really strong fighting spirit.” He added.

On the other hand, HCI teacher-in-charge Michael Wong was in analytical mood after the match.

“Our strategy throughout the season was to play with this first team. We believe the game is won in the fourth not first,” he said when quizzed about not playing his star players. “In the first we always play aggressive defense. If we can play on par with their first team in the first quarter, it will be easier for us later on.”

He provided comments on the performance of both his key players – Jabez Su and Russel Low. Jabez Su shot 8/13 and had two assists while Russel had six blocks and shot 4/8.

“Jabez is a scorer by nature and he will always try to score. You can count on him to score,” he commented on Jabez’s performance. “But in the end, it all goes back to the team defense and securing those crucial rebounds. Without that, he wouldn’t be able to run those fast breaks.”

“It was what he was brought in to do! He’s the man in the middle and he anchors our defense,” he commented on Russel’s performance. “He plays in a very important position and today, secured key rebounds and he did really well. “

He also paid tribute to AJC’s performance and felt Ang Wei Xian’s absence was a big blow to them.

“AJC shot the ball really well – I think they made close to 10 three pointers. They really had gut and determination and fought hard throughout,” he said. “You can see it in their faces that they wanted it. With the odds against them, they did rather well.”

“I think they miss Wei Xian a lot! Their average height went down a notch without him,” he explained. “Their other centre is about a head shorter than he is but he fouled out fast (in the third quarter) and their team became full of forwards.”

A visibly pleased HCI captain Subhas Nair also shared his thoughts about the victory.

“Both teams played played very well and gave 100% in the match. Kudos to AJC for fighting so hard for the game. I think the fact that we had a deep roster this year helped us to achieve the win,” he said.

“This has been a joyous run to the final,” he added. “This victory is really sweet as we trained very hard for this tournament and this will also be my last season with the team. I really love my teammates!”

Overall tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) Russel Low paid tribute to his coach and his team for the victory.

“This was a team effort,” he said. “We started training for this since December and trained three to four times a week. “

“We rushed our play midway through and missed a few key three-pointers, so the coach told us to slow down and keep our pace which we managed to do so.” he added.

Check back for the match pictures!

Quarter-by-Quarter Scores
1st Q: 23-11
2nd Q: 18-17
3rd Q: 13-3
4th Q: 18-14
Final Score: 72-45

Top Scorers
Hwa Chong Institution:
Jabez Su (#4) – 14 points
Nio Yuan Ming (#11) – 13 points
Russel Low (#5) – 12 points

Anderson JC:
Teo Yu Jian (#8) – 11 points
Jong Kai Jie (#9) – 10 points

HCI lineup
Jabez Su (#4), Russel Low (#5), Tan Ee Ruey (#6), Zhou Kai (#7), Henry Wong (#8), Bryan Gregory Kor (#9), Adelbert Tan (#10), Nio Yuan Ming (#11), Chen Yu (#12), Subhas Nair (#13), Zhang Xunda (#14), Justin Nadar (#15)

AJC Lineup
Koh An Song (#4), Wang Hao (#5), Eric Lin (#6), Wong Yusheng (#7), Teo Yu Jian (#8), Jong Kai Jie (#9), Ng Keng Wee (#10), Khiew Kian Sin (#11), Siow Wei-Zhong (#12), Nicholas Chan (#13), Teo Yu Liang (#14), Ang Wei Xian (#15)

3rd Quarter Highlights

4th Quarter Highlights Part 1

4th Quarter Highlights Part 2