By REDintern Gan Yu Neng

2012-C_Div-Bball-Raffles-Sji (1)

Brendan Baptista (SJII #11) trying to go past the RI defense. (Photo 1 © Chong Ng/Red Sports)

 

PESEB, Tuesday, July 3, 2012 – Raffles Institution made it look easy with a 72-14 win over St. Joseph’s Institution (International) in the first round of the South Zone C Division Basketball Championship. This is RI’s third straight win in Group C and SJII’s second loss this round.

In a clear show of superiority, Raffles played a merciless game on both offense and defense. RI’s top scorer, Jovi Lim (#11), scored a game-high 16 points. The next-highest RI scorers were Chean Shao Jie (#6) and Yan Yin Qing (#12) at 14 points apiece.

RI showed depth in its squad, with no less than 10 players making the scoresheet while SJII were unable to convert any of their free throws.

While SJII made an effort to contain Raffles with a zonal defense, they could not prevent RI from keeping up the pressure with uninterrupted passes until they found an opening to score.

RI’s Yin Qing (#12) in particular, made many of his shots count, making multiple jumpshots, as well as catching and converting his own rebounds completely unhindered by SJII’s defense.

Throughout the game, Raffles kept a very disciplined defense, preventing SJII from converting their rebounds. In the third quarter, SJII attempted to turn the game around by advancing with quick drives and short passes with SJII’s Justin Chandraputra (#7) and Brendan Baptista (#11) putting up credible performances in offense.

However, many of these fast breaks did not make it past RI’s three-point line. At one point, Nathaniel Low (SJII #4) managed to penetrate the defense and score two for St. Joseph’s in the third quarter — these would turn out to be the last points for SJII for the rest of the match as they went scoreless in the fourth.

SJII also attempted to up their defensive pressure at the basket in the third quarter, working harder to intercept RI’s passes. RI responded by advancing the ball using long forward passes after any turnovers, getting to SJII’s basket before the defense could catch up.

Although St. Joseph’s Justin (#7) and Brendan (#11) kept making attempts at the basket through the remainder of the game, with Raffles having a clear height advantage in Shao Jie (#6), Jovi (#11), Zhang Anli (#9), and Jansen Castillo (#14), many of their missed attempts were only converted into more points for RI.

St. Joseph’s International will next play Kuo Chuan Presbyterian on Thursday, July 5th, 11.45am at PESEB. Both teams have already been eliminated from the second round.

Raffles Institution will next face Guangyang Secondary, who are their chief rival as the only other team in Group C with three wins. No matter who wins this match, both Raffles and Guangyang will advance to the second round. The match will also take place on Thursday, July 5th, 11.45am at PESEB.

South Zone C Division Basketball Championship — full fixtures and results

Score by Quarter
St. Joseph’s Institution (International) vs Raffles Institution
1st Q: 4–16
2nd Q: 6–18 (10–34)
3rd Q: 4–20 (14–54)
4th Q: 0–18
Final Score: 14-72

Top Scorers
SJII
David Llew (#14) – 4 points
Brendan Baptista (#11) – 4 points
Justin Chandraputra (#7) – 2 points
Christopher Chew (#6) – 2 points
Nathaniel Low (#4) – 2 points

RI
Jovi Lim (#11) – 16 points
Chean Shao Jie (#6) – 14 points
Yan Yin Qing (#12) – 14 points
Justin Yeo (#10) – 6 points
Huang Daran (#13) – 6 points
Jansen Castillo (#14) – 6 points
Danny Goh (#15) – 4 points
Marcus Soon (#4) – 2 points
Shivanand (#8) – 2 points
Ivan Siah (#5) – 2 points

SJII Lineup
Nathaniel Low (#4), Christopher Chew (#6), Justin Chandraputra (#7), Andres Sena (#9), Lim Do Hun (#10), Brendan Baptista (#11), Kensho Heng (#12), Timothy Bernas (#13), David Llew (#14), Lim Shao Lun (#15)

RI Lineup
Marcus Soon (#4), Ivan Siah (#5), Chean Shao Jie (#6), Tristen Zheng (#7), Shivanand (#8), Zhang Anli (#9), Justin Yeo (#10), Jovi Lim (#11), Yan Yin Qing (#12), Huang Daran (#13), Jansen Castillo (#14), Danny Goh (#15)

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