YOG basketball squads fail to finish first at FIBA 33 challenge

Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by REDintern Thomas Tan

Scape Youth Park, Sunday, May 30, 2010 — On the final day of competition at the 2010 Basketball Association of Singapore (BAS) 3-on-3 Challenge, the Youth Olympic Games boys’ and girls’ squads finished fourth and second in their respective categories.

The boys’ team finished the group stages as winners, but a shock 14-20 defeat to fourth-placed Tagawa in the semi-finals relegated them to the 3rd/4th placing match where they fell 22-23 to Team Chew.

The girls’ team had better fortune. Although they finished second after six group games, they easily beat third-placed Team Comets 24-15 in the semi-final. They then faced Team Bingo, which is made up of players from the women’s national team, in the final where they lost 21-26.

“There are definitely areas to improve on still,” said Mr Khoo Hwa Pang, team manager for the boys’ squad. “In a way, this fourth-place finished wasn’t expected but this tournament is a good warm up and we got the opportunity to try out different plays, both on attack and defense.”

The YOG Boys came into the semi-finals on a roll. They only suffered an 18-25 defeat to Team Chew, a team which is made up of senior national youth players, while registering comfortable victories in their other games.

So it came as a shock when Tagawa, who finished last in the group, sprinted to a 4-0 lead in the semi-finals. It took three minutes for the YOG Boys to get on the score sheet through a Larry Liew (#11) 3-pointer. Russel Low (YOG boy #5) did give his side the lead at 5-4, but Tagawa scored a free throw before the interval to tie the match at 5-5.

Larry nailed a trey to start the second, but Tagawa were a constant torn in the YOG Boys’ side, keeping the score close. Tagawa eventually claimed the lead at 14-12 with 1.40 minutes left on the clock before extending it to six points with 33 seconds left in the match. The YOG Boys desperately tried to claw their way back, but their efforts were not enough to stop Tagawa and they lost 14-20.

Their luck did not improve in the 3rd/4th placing match. Although they took a 5-0 lead to start the match, the YOG Boys allowed Team Chew back into the match. With Edwin Low leading the charge, Team Chew soon tied the game and took the lead at the end of the first period at 13-12.

Edwin continued his fine run in the second period, scoring all of his team’s 10 points. Larry Liew gave his side the lead briefly at 17-16 with a 3-pointer, but Edwin responded with a trey of his own. He then sealed the game with four straight free throws as Team Chew beat the YOG Boys 23-22.

“We’ll have another 3-on-3 tournament in Australia in July,” said Mr. Khoo, when asked if there were any more tournaments to prep the squad. “Hopefully, we’ll get four to six more games there.”

Singapore All-Stars eventually emerged the champions of the boys’ category, beating Tagawa 26-18 in the final.

In the girls’ category, the quartet of Alanna Lim, Hannah Ng, Tok Hui Min and Zoe Eng had previously beaten their semi-final opponents, Team Comets, twice in the group stages. Alanna Lim (#11) started their semi-final match strongly for her team with a three-point play. From then, however, the match was close with both teams struggling to score. It was only towards the end of the first half that the YOG Girls began to extend their lead to 11-6.

In the second half, the YOG Girls continued their form and found their rhythm, easily taking the match 24-15.

The final between Team Bingo and the YOG Girls was much closer. Bingo had previously recorded two victories over the YOG Girls in the group stages, but in the final, Hannah Ng (#4) started the match on a high for her side with a 3-pointer. Both sides were scoring freely, resulting in a close game. Bingo had the edge at the end of the first half at 10-9.

Bingo then stormed to 10-0 run after the interval. Although Tok Hui Min led a late charge at the end of the match, the YOG Girls were unable to overcome the deficit and eventually succumbed 26-21.

“I think they played well,” said Dr. Koh Koon Teck, team manager for the girls’ basketball team. “The final was the closest we came to beating Team Bingo out of the three times we played them.”

“There are still some areas to work on, but overall we are on track in terms of preparation for the YOG. The girls still need to work on their fitness and fine tune some of the plays. At least with this tournament, they know where they stand now,” Dr. Koh added.