By REDintern Gan Yu Neng
Loyang’s Ng Jun Yang (#4) having a hard time passing Dunman High’s defense. (Photo 1 © Chong Ng/Red Sports)
Anglican High School, Tuesday, July 10, 2012 — Dunman High romped to an 85-8 win over Loyang Secondary after preventing the latter from scoring for two consecutive quarters in the East Zone C Division Basketball Championship.
With the exception of Joel Sim (#12), all of Loyang were physically dwarfed by the boys from Dunman High. Joel ended up as the only player on the score sheet for Loyang, putting in all of Loyang’s eight points. Joel was the only Loyang player that could make it down Dunman’s half of the court without having the ball stolen.
Joel made continued attempts at Dunman High’s basket throughout the game, relying on mid-range shots to get the ball over the heads of Dunman High’s defense. However, in the third and fourth quarter, none of these shots found their mark.
The entire game revolved around Loyang’s passing strategy crumbling against Dunman High’s immaculate man-to-man defense. When marked by a Dunman player, the Loyang players would attempt to advance the ball with a pass, but due to Dunman’s size advantage, more often than not this resulted in a steal or an interception.
Dunman High, on the other hand, had many scoring options. Jordan Chan (#7) and Gifford Chuang (#11), both adept at intercepting passes not meant for them, would dribble it down to Loyang’s side of the court for two. Tan Jin Hui (#8) — who scored a game-high 24 points this match ‚ was a relentlessly accurate shooter.
Dunman High, however, were not reliant on just a few main players. They kept up a rolling substitution to give each player some time on court. Nine of Dunman High’s 12-strong squad made the score sheet.
In the third quarter, Loyang’s defense were nowhere in sight as Georyl (#4), Jordan (#7), Jin Hui (#8) and Gifford (#11) took turns to intercept passes, drive up to the basket, and score for Dunman High.
A possible reason was Loyang’s very literal man-to-man defense, which had the boys in white sticking loyally to their marks. As soon as one of Dunman High’s players broke away with the ball, so long as his teammates did not follow suit, Loyang’s defense also stayed put; only one or two of them would be chasing the ball back to the basket. One-on-one, Loyang’s players were no match for Dunman High’s.
In the final quarter, Loyang had close to zero scoring opportunities, with Dunman High consistently catching Loyang’s passes. Loyang were almost completely unable to advance past Dunman High’s three-point line without the ball being stolen or intercepted. The few shots that Loyang did make were all misses, and DHS would catch the rebound and quickly punish Loyang for their failed attempts.
On the other hand, Dunman High’s players with the upper hand in both speed and height had the ability to pass Loyang’s defense, and the freedom to make repeated shots at the basket until they scored.
Even while the rest of his team were celebrating their win, Dunman High’s team captain Jin Hui (#8) took a big-picture view of the match.
“To others it may seem like the score difference is very large. Actually the score today doesn’t matter. My team still can perform better, in terms of defense, and the early fast breaks… Happy with my juniors’ performance, can see them really tussling for the ball, but we can stand to improve more,” said Jin Hui.
Asked about Dunman High’s biggest rivals, he replied: “There are two: Anglican and Chung Cheng High. The group as a whole has improved a lot, so it will be harder, but we probably have a good chance of meeting them again. We have the chance to beat them this time around. It will be tough, but we have the chance.”
East Zone C Division Basketball Championship — full fixtures and results
Score by Quarter
Loyang vs Dunman High
1st Q: 4-18
2nd Q: 4-20 (8-38)
3rd Q: 0-31 (9-69)
4th Q: 0-16
Final Score: 8-85
Top Scorers
Loyang
Joel Sim (#12) – 8 points
Dunman High
Tan Jin Hui (#8) – 24 points
Gifford Chuang (#11) – 11 points
Jordan Chan (#7) – 10 points
Ong Kong Hong (#6) – 9 points
Georyl Pay (#4) – 8 points
Adriell Phoe (#9) – 8 points
Irvin Seet (#5) – 6 points
Yang Zi Meng (#15) – 5 points
Teo Nian Kai (#13) – 4 points
Loyang Roster
Ng Jun Yang (#4), Alvin Lum (#5), Leonard Hor (#6), Too Yun Shyi (#7), Daniel Shafique Seow (#8), Bryan Loh (#9), Anderson Tan (#10), Jeremy Chew (#11), Joel Sim (#12), Loh Yao Wen (#13)
Dunman High Roster
Georyl Pay (#4), Irvin Seet (#5), Ong Kong Hong (#6), Jordan Chan (#7), Tan Jin Hui (#8), Adriell Phoe (#9), Zhang Han (#10), Gifford Chuang (#11), Chan Ray (#12), Teo Nian Kai (#13), Ong Kang Wei (#14), Yang Zi Meng (#15)
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