By Gan Yu Neng/Red Sports
Desiree Lee (#4) of CHIJ finds some space opening for her against Anglican High. She finished with 9 points in the game. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Clementi Sports Hall, Monday, August 13, 2012 — After last week’s 35-25 defeat at the hands of Nan Chiau High, Anglican High rallied together to beat CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh) by a convincing 16 points, winning 57-31 in their second Round 2 game of the National C Division Basketball Championship. Although this win does not guarantee them a place in the National Top Four, it does give the Anglican High girls a much higher chance of making it through this round.
Anglican High went strong right from the start of the game, limiting CHIJ’s scoring opportunities and building up an enormous lead that would only grow throughout the rest of the match.
Anglican High’s defensive formation locked out CHIJ’s players, in particular preventing the diminutive Jayne Chan (#12) from getting through. CHIJ were consistently unable to break Anglican High’s formation, forcing the team to make riskier shots from mid-range or from behind the three-point line.
Jayne, the most accurate shooter in the CHIJ team, responded to the challenge of Anglican High’s defense by sending in a beautifully arching three-pointer from far out. Although she continued to make three-point attempts over Anglican High’s formation, however, that was the only one that got through.
Whereas in previous matches, Jayne was able to carry out her solo fast breaks with impunity, here she found Anglican more than prepared. On turnovers, Anglican High did not make it easy for CHIJ to get the ball to Jayne, and even when they did, Anglican’s larger and faster players would put pressure on Jayne all the way down the length of the court. Anglican would knock the ball out of bounds to disrupt the Jayne’s drive, or even steal the ball outright.
Jayne was still able to score when she could run alone, but these opportunities came few and far between. She finished with a team-high 15 points.
In contrast, Amelie Lim (#8) from Anglican High made a game-high 17 points. On the defense, Amelie kept a very harsh guard on Jayne, if necessary chasing her all the way back and slowing her for long enough to allow the other Anglican High players to put up their defensive formation.
On the offense, Amelie was just faster and stronger than CHIJ, either personally putting in lay-ups or even just driving the ball through CHIJ’s defense to pass to a waiting teammate to score.
Chermaine Kiong (#7) also put up an impressive performance for Anglican High, making six of her eight points from three-point shots. Throughout the game, Chermaine and Amelie both made multiple three-point attempts, and where they missed their teammates were able to leap for the rebounds to score from under the basket instead.
Just two minutes into the second half, CHIJ’s Jayne Chan (#12) suddenly fell hard on her back after being fouled while making a shot. The game was paused as the referees and other players crowded around to check if she could play on. She was substituted out and Jamie Cheong (#14) came on to take her free throws.
In lieu of their best player, CHIJ Toa Payoh rose to the challenge as a team. They defended harder, running to intercept or deny passes, and made faster attempts to score before Anglican High’s defense could get into formation. They scrambled to catch their offensive rebounds to make up for their own misses. At one point, while both teams were clustered beneath Anglican High’s basket, CHIJ managed to make four repeated attempts before Desiree (#4) finally put it in.
Amazingly, as they waited for Jayne to recover, the rest of the team held the fort and actually managed to reduce the score gap, from 22 points at the point where Jayne was injured (17-39) to 20 points (27-47) when she returned on court at the end of the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, however, Anglican High once again tightened their defense and refused to let Jayne through. Jayne was still able to score two from a fast break and lay-up, but with her injuries she was in no state to crash through the taller and physically superior Anglican High players. CHIJ scored only four points in the last quarter.
Anglican High’s captain, Amelie (#8), felt her team did well.
“The match went well as compared to previous matches,” she said. “We can finally feel our fighting spirit coming back up.”
“[Against Nan Chiau] we were slightly overconfident; this match we told ourselves that we had to win. It’s good to see their fighting spirit back up; it’s something that is very important for the team.”
Anglican High will next play Dunman Secondary in a rematch of their East Zone final. Then, Dunman had won the East Zone title by a margin of 30 points. Should Anglican High overturn this result while CHIJ beat Nan Chiau, both Dunman and Anglican High will proceed to the semi-finals. The match will take place on Tuesday, 14th August, 11.30am at Clementi Sports Hall.
CHIJ will face Nan Chiau High, which has one win and one loss this round. With two losses, CHIJ must beat Nan Chiau by a sizeable margin, while hoping that Anglican High are defeated by Dunman in the next court. This would force a 1-win-2-loss tie between Anglican High, Nan Chiau High and CHIJ Toa Payoh, giving CHIJ a chance to pass to the semi-final on goal average. This match will also take place on Tuesday, 14th August, 11.30am at Clementi Sports Hall.
Score by Quarter
CHIJ Toa Payoh vs Anglican High
1st Q: 6-24
2nd Q: 11-10 (17-34)
3rd Q: 10-13 (27-47)
4th Q: 4-10
Final Score: 31-57
Top Scorers
CHIJ Toa Payoh
Jayne Chan Jing Yi (#12) — 15 points
Desiree Lee Si Qi (#4) — 9 points
Anjou Ang Xing (#5) — 4 points
Cordelia Te Rong Theresa (#8) — 2 points
Cheong Jamie (#14) — 1 point
Anglican High
Amelie Lim (#8) — 17 points
Navanee Lingam (#15) — 12 points
Jaslyn Koh (#9) — 8 points
Chermaine Kiong (#7) — 8 points
Shannon Tham (#4) — 6 points
Charmaine Lam (#12) — 4 points
Chelsea Eng (#6) — 2 points
CHIJ Toa Payoh Roster
Desiree Lee Si Qi (#4), Anjou Ang Xing (#5), Jevonne Liew Jia Wen (#6), Liew Yu Wen, Rachel (#7), Cordelia Te Rong Theresa (#8), Lois Ng Le Yi (#9), Nigelle Leo Yuwen (#10), Tai Jia Wen, Yvonne (#11), Jayne Chan Jing Yi (#12), Marriott See Yi Wei (#13), Cheong Jamie (#14), Clara Teo Yu Ching (#15)
Anglican High Roster
Shannon Tham (#4), Clarice Tan (#5), Chelsea Eng (#6), Chermaine Kiong (#7), Amelie Lim (#8), Jaslyn Koh (#9), Ng Qi Hui (#10), Danielle Roman (#11), Charmaine Lam (#12), Vivian Hau (#13), Ho Pei Er (#14), Navanee Lingam (#15)
National C Division Basketball Championship — full fixtures and results
More photos in gallery next page
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