Youth Olympic Basketball: Singapore girls go down 14-20 to Angola

Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Les Tan/Red Sports

*Scape Youth Park, Wednesday, 18 August, 2010 – In their last match of the Youth Olympic Games girls’ FIBA 33 competition group stages, Singapore put up a valiant effort but were unable to overcome Angola, going down 14-20 in their Group B match.

Having lost their previous three games by significant margins, Singapore were determine to get a positive result in their final group game. They kept up with the Africans throughout the match and despite Singapore’s centre Zoe Eng’s injury after just 39 seconds of the second half, they took the lead.

However, with their influential centre out of the match temporarily, Singapore were unable to keep Angola at bay. Although Zoe battled the pain to come back into the match, Angola accumulated a lead they did not relinquish again.

Just like in their other matches, Singapore had a positive start. They began the match with an aggressive defense and even managed to get the ball into the net with their first possession, but it was ruled out for a shot-clock violation.

Angola got their first points a minute and a half into the match but Singapore quickly snatched the lead through Zoe’s layup.

Singapore had been out-rebounded in all of their games, but this time, they were performing much better against taller opponents, making 20 rebounds to Angola’s 15. Even Tok Hui Min, who was down with a stomachache, managed to grab four rebounds. It was she who gave Singapore the lead at 4-3 with a long two, after Angola had taken it back through Goncalves Ana Claudia.

However, Singapore struggled to make their chances count. Although they were able to drive to the hoop, they were unable to make their layups and shot 17% from the field for the game. This allowed Angola to go on a 7-0 and despite captain Hannah Ng’s two free throws at the end of the half, Singapore went into the break 6-10 down.

Hui Min gave Singapore a bright start in the second half as she quickly stole the ball during Angola’s first possession. However, disaster struck 39 seconds into the second period. Zoe suddenly went down, grabbing her ankle and had to be helped off by her teammates.

This seemed to spark Singapore to life and they went on a scoring run, with Hui Min blazing into the paint for a layup before she fed Alanna Lim to tie the game at 10-10. Hui Min then gave Singapore the lead at 11-10 for the first time since the first period, making one of two free throws.

That was the last time Singapore would how the lead, however, as a three-point play by Helena Francisco (#11) gave Angola the lead. The Africans would cling on to their lead for the rest of the match and even managed to extend it. Another three-point play by Mateus Elisabeth (#13) put Angola ahead 18-12 with a little more than a minute remaining.

Although Zoe was soon back on court, all she could do was nail a jumper towards the end before captain Afonso Artemis sealed the win for Angola with a pair of free throws for the 20-14 victory.

“Today is not my day,” said Tok Hui Min, who scored a team-high six points. “For me, I don’t know what it was, but I had a bad stomachache and I didn’t have a lot of strength. I managed to score quite a few points because today, the opponent not as strong as the others. We really want to win this game and let our supporters be impressed, but still we lost.”

When asked about Zoe’s condition, Hui Min explained that her teammate had twisted her ankle while jostling with an opponent.

“If she had played on, I think we could have won!” added the Woodgrove Secondary student.

“I’m feeling quite … sad,” described captain Hannah Ng. “This was the game we could have won and we were really going for it. We really tried to recover from yesterday’s game and really wanted to win this. My team tried really hard! Even Zoey! Although she twisted her ankle and was in great pain, she still came back into the game and put up a real show! I’m really proud of them.”

“Overall, this YOG (Youth Olympic Games) has been a great experience because we got to play against taller and physically stronger opponents. I believe they are all full-time athletes and we don’t get a chance to play against opposition like them in Singapore,” added Hannah about her experience.

Singapore will now fight for 17th place after finishing last in the group stages.

“For now, We are going to fight hard for 17th place,” continued the Raffles Institution student.

The girls will next play on Saturday, August 21st, against the last-placed team of Group A.

For Singapore fixtures and results, go to our 2010 YOG fixtures page

2nd Half Highlights:

For Singapore fixtures and results, go to our 2010 YOG fixtures page