By Rebecca Yip/Red Sports
Thng Yong An (#5) of Unity goes for two against Bryan Ang (#10) of Jurong. Yong An had an outstanding game for Unity, scoring a game-high 18 points. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Jurong East Sports Hall, Thursday, July 26, 2012 — Unity Secondary were crowned champions of the West Zone C Division Basketball Championship after beating arch-rivals, Jurong Secondary, 54-46.
The loss of all three of their centres as the game wound down was not enough to prevent Unity from winning their fourth zonal title in a row.
Unity made it a double when their girls team beat Nanyang Girls’ High 50-48 earlier that afternoon.
The boys’ final was expected to be a mouth-watering clash following Jurong’s narrow 30-35 loss to Unity in an intense final group game in Round 2.
Unity’s Thng Yong An (#5) opened the scoring after making an interception, but Jurong quickly responded with a basket. Jurong’s pre-game jitters clearly showed when their captain, Mao Yu Xian (#14), and Galton Yeo (#15) missed their free throws, allowing Unity to pull ahead by six points at one stage. The first quarter ended with Unity leading 10-7.
Jurong came back fighting to close the gap in the second quarter. Wu Mingming (#7) converted both his free throws to put Jurong only one point behind Unity. He then added a basket to help Jurong take the lead for the first time in the game.
Jurong’s Isham (#13) also stepped up, scoring four points in the second quarter to relieve the scoring burden on Mao Yu Xian (#14).
Isham (#13) ended the game with 8 points and Jurong led by one (23-22) at half-time.
Unity’s Shahrul Ramdum (#15) opened the scoring at the start of the third quarter, but a 3-pointer by Jurong’s Bryan Ang (#10), his only basket in the match, put Jurong two points ahead at 26-24, the largest lead they would get in the whole game.
Jurong were given an advantage when Unity’s main centre, Shahrul Ramdum (#15), fouled out of the game. Vice-captain and other key centre, Kovic Lee (#8), joined him on the bench a few minutes later, and Jurong became more pumped up after this. Jurong looked set to cause an upset after Unity’s third centre, Leon Chin (#14), left the court in tears after fouling out as well with four minutes to go on the clock.
However, careless passing by Jurong opened up opportunities for Unity to score. Unity’s Thng Yong An (#5) in particular was an unstoppable force in his team’s attack, scoring almost every time he got the ball. He ran rings around Jurong’s defenders and, despite being shorter, managed to snatch rebounds against the towering Jurong players. He continued playing even with a bloodied mouth in the fourth quarter, and sunk five baskets in a row.
Yong An (#5) eventually emerged as joint top scorer of the game together with Jurong’s Mao Yu Xian (#14), with 18 points each.
Unity also stepped up their defence in the fourth quarter, with captain Foo Jun Lin (#10) leading the way by blocking many of Jurong’s attempted shots.
Jurong was no match for Unity’s stamina and physicality as they held on to win 54-46.
Unity’s captain, Foo Jun Lin (#10), was ecstatic that the team pulled together to retain their West Zone C Division Basketball Championship title.
He said: “When we lost all three centres, we found it difficult to play, but we still managed to play well.”
Unity’s target is to be in the top four and hopefully become National champions again, but coach Steve Goh Poh Seng says that the team must “buck up more on defence.”
Jurong’s captain, Mao Yu Xian (#14), seemed dejected after his team’s loss. Even though they played better than when they first met Unity, he said that the team had a lot of problems with the defence and could not stop Unity’s Thng Yong An (#5), who was “too fast”. However, he and the team are looking forward to the Nationals, where they aim to be in the top four.
The draw for the National Championship was held on Friday, July 27th.
Score by Quarter
Jurong vs Unity
1st Q: 7-10
2nd Q: 16-12 (23-22)
3rd Q: 12-14 (35-36)
4th Q: 11-18
Final: 46-54
Top Scorers
Jurong
Mao Yu Xian (#14) — 18 points
Galton Yeo (#15) — 9 points
Isham (#13) — 8 points
Unity
Thng Yong An (#5) — 18 points
John Christopher (#7) — 9 points
Shahrul Ramdum (#15) — 8 points
Lee Kovic (#8) — 6 points
Jurong Roster
Simeon (#4), Kurt Tan (#5), Chew Hong Xiang (#6), Wu Mingming (#7), Eugene Yeong (#8), Nigel Ong (#9), Bryan Ang (#10), Zester Tay (#11), Jordon Boey (#12), Isham (#13), Mao Yu Xian (#14), Galton Yeo (#15)
Unity Roster
Indra Dzuliman (#4), Thng Yong An (#5), Markus Lin (#6), John Christopher (#7), Lee Kovic (#8), Tan Ming Hui (#9), Foo Jun Lin (#10), David Martin (#11), Muhd Afiq (#12), Brandon Tan (#13), Leon Chin (#14), Shahrul Ramdum (#15)
West Zone C Division Basketball Championship – full fixtures and results
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