Story by REDintern Stefanus Ian. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports
Bryan Kor going for a layup. (Photo 1 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Toa Payoh Stadium, Friday, May 20, 2011 — Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) completed a double in the National A division Basketball Championships when their boys in red recorded a respectable 74-61 victory over Raffles Institution.
RI were quickest off the blocks, building a sizable seven points lead by the end of the first quarter but that was the last time they held the lead as HCI caught up and stormed ahead in the second half. The HCI bench eventually proved too much as they ran out comfortable winners by a margin of 13 points.
It was a good performance by the defending champions and the match went according to plan as Michael Wong, a member of the HCI coaching staff, commented: “I was just telling them the other day to be careful against Raffles or we would only be able to pull away in the third quarter and true enough it happened. I am please with the performance of the boys and how we got the win.”
RI started brilliantly playing their usual fast break passing game with Wang Jiacheng (RI #10), the eventual Most Valuable Player, leading the way, finishing an alley oop just minutes into the game. RI also showed their willingness to get down and dirty as their players dived for every loose ball.
HCI’s offense did not click early on as they missed a few layups and shots but they did their best to keep up with Raffles’ blistering pace with their perimeter shooting. The first quarter ended with RI leading 17-10.
RI went into the second quarter looking to continue their sizzling form and they drew many fouls. Despite their high free throw percentage, they struggled to repeat their first quarter haul of 17 points, largely due to Russel Low (HCI #5) settling into the game and showing his dominance under the basket.
Russel started the second quarter brightly, getting an assist and a block within minutes of the restart and soon everything started to fall into place for HCI as their offense started clicking into gear. HCI started chalking up points in a real hurry with Yuan Ming (HCI #10) pulling his weight with eight points in the second quarter as RI’s hopes of winning faded fast. By the end of the first half, the RI boys were trailing by a single point.
After the break, RI simply could not keep up with HCI as their offense racked up a massive 29 points, only two shy of their total first-half haul. Jiacheng, after being the RI play maker in the first half, struggled to get into his rhythm scoring, notching just two points in the third quarter.
With HCI catching fire, and their main offensive player firing blanks, RI were forced to rotate their players. RI managed to swing some momentum their way with 5:35 on the clock when Wei Xuan (RI #7) intercepted a loose ball and converted it into an easy layup at the other end but not before drawing some contact allowing to successfully complete a three-point play.
Sensing that the momentum was shifting, HCI took swift action with a quick three-pointer in the next possession to maintain their healthy lead. HCI were cruising and they emphasized that point when Yuan Ming (HCI #10) sank a buzzer-beater three-pointer at the end of the quarter to give HCI a 60-45.
Going into the final quarter of their season and trailing by a double digit margin, RI displayed courage to continue fighting, outscoring HCI 16-14 in the last quarter. Goh Kong Tat (RI #12) was perhaps the brightest spark for them. Kong Tat contributed well at both the offensive and defensive end with his three-pointers and dominating blocks and rejections at the other end.
In the end, RI could not cope with Russel Low’s (HCI #5) dominating presence on the inside as the big man was pretty much unstoppable whenever he got going to the basket. RI played the last quarter with wild abandon as their supporters cheered on faithfully with their “Fight on Raffles Fight on” cheer. In the end, the better team won but RI definitely gave a good account of themselves with their spirited display throughout.
The RI coach commented after the game: “We know that Hwa Chong has the best team this year but I am proud of the performance of our boys as they showed great fighting spirit.”
All in all, it was an entertaining game between the two best A Division basketball teams in the country. Yuan Ming (HCI #10) was the top scorer of the game with an impressive 20 points. HCI’s perimeter shooting was also on display as they sank a total of seven three-pointers, with Bryan Gregory (HCI #11) being their sharpshooter with four of those threes.
RI’s Jiacheng, this year’s MVP, chalked up a team-high 16 points. With both teams not having many J1s we will see these two schools renew their rivalry next year with fresh faces.
Match Statistics
RI 61 HCI 74
1st Q: 17-10
2nd Q: 13-21 (30-31)
3rd Q: 15-29 (45-60)
4th Q: 61-74
Most Valuable Player: Wang Jiacheng
Jervin Lim (RI #8) knocks the ball from Bryan Kor (HCI #11) as he tries to score. (Photo 2 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
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@sad
I do not think that this is a structured exercise….MVP selection. I believe it is an invited guest or a closed panel who watches the game and makes a decision.
Personally, I never gave much weight to finals MVP awards. IMO only the opposing coach and to slighly lessor extent..the coach, knows best on result impacting performances from players on both sides. Sometimes, result impacting performances are not tangible. Also, to the team, performance over the entire season, and during the year long training buildup…is often a bigger deal than the performance during a single game…albeit the final game in front of many spectators.
what is the criteria for mvp? does it include the overall performance such as defence offence assists? or because RI is more dependent on #10 it seems as though he was bound to be mvp bcoz of that
@d. I do not understand the reasons for your outburst. In what way was this the most biased reporting EVER?
I thought this was fairly well written, as was the piece on the girls final.
As a member of the Rafflesian Bball family, I have more critical comments on RI which I will keep to myself.
On the whole, HCI was clearly the better team. Jabez did not have a good day and had limited impact with 4 fouls. Russel was steady throughout and his post plays on both ends were impressive. HCI #10 and #11 stepped up and if I were to pick, anyone of the 3 of them would have been more appropriate Game MVP (can’t comment on the entire season).
Its was a high calibre game for A boys, RI fought hard, esp their bench in Q4, but HCI had better quality and a deeper bench.
This is like the most biased post EVER. Stefanus Ian, please be more impartial if you want some respect and credibility. Your tone is simply favouring RJC, and it seems that you cannot accept that the better school won.
Everyone writes from their own perspective of the game and sometimes it may not with overlap your point of view.
There is no such thing as an impartial story.
You can always write your own version of the game if you like.
You send it, we post it. ; )
http://redsports.sg/tell-your-story/
First off, I would like to say that it’s heartening to see that there is actually somebody passionate enough to comment on the article which shows the healthy state of A Division sports. I appreciate constructive criticisms so please highlight to me specific sections of the article which you deem to be bias and oh by the way I did write in the article (and this is word for word from the last sentence in the twelfth paragraph) “In the end, the better team won…” So there you go 🙂
the first hci player going up for the basket is #11 bryan kor
Updated. Thanks alot 🙂
shouldnt photo 2 be knocks the ball off #11 bryan kor?
Err oops sorry couldn’t really see the jersey number. Updated already! Thanks for the heads up 🙂