By Gan Yu Neng/Red Sports
Toh Tze Cong in action for Catholic High during the national final against Dunman. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Jurong East Sports Hall, Thursday, August 23, 2012 — At the close of the National C Division Basketball Championship, Catholic High’s Toh Tze Cong (#15) was awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) accolade. Long before the conclusion of that game, however, Tze Cong had already made a name for himself as easily the most prominent player in the C Division this season.
With his height and broad shoulders, Tze Cong was often the largest player on court. Very few players — mainly the centers and power forwards of top teams such as Lakksman Ganapathy (Ahmad Ibrahim #13), Liew Jia Ming (Dunman #14), Shiek Ridwan (North Vista #10), Shahrul Ramdum (Unity #15) — could match him in physical size alone.
In actual game play, however, Tze Cong’s energy was unsurpassed. He frequently played for the full duration of important matches, and was a significant fixture in both offense and defense. Under the basket, he kept up a high shooting accuracy, bolstered by the fact that he could often catch his own rebounds, or failing that, intercept his opponent’s attempts to pass the ball out when they caught his rebound.
With his height, Tze Cong could physically block shots and passes, either by deflecting them or by stealing them completely, grasping them out of the air with one outreached hand, then bringing the other arm up to snap the ball firmly into his possession. Any interrupted shot, pass, or rebound could then easily and immediately be converted into a jump shot, a fast break or a long forward pass to a teammate.
Not only was Tze Cong skilled as a basketball player, he was also entertaining and intimidating on the court, playing with a theatrically violent flair. During close matches, Tze Cong played with a level of energy and suppressed fury that elevated the game tension to an entirely different level. The court echoed with the force of his dribbles. His passion for his team and for basketball translated into fierce celebratory fist-pumps after each shot made or each foul call on the opposing team.
Catholic High has had a fantastic run this season, in no small part due to Tze Cong’s efforts.
In the zonals, Catholic High romped easily through all seven of their group-stage games, including one game where Tze Cong personally scored no less than 43 points.
Not long after, Catholic High beat Raffles Institution in the semi-final and Peicai Secondary in the final, to defend their South Zone title. Tze Cong was once again top scorer for both games with at least 30 points.
In the Nationals, Catholic High were handed their first defeat by North Vista, after Tze Cong almost single-handedly closed North Vista’s 11-point lead only to be foiled by a buzzer-beater. North Vista were later eliminated in the 2nd Round of the Nationals after losing to Unity Secondary and Presbyterian High.
Catholic High proceeded to the 2nd Round of the Nationals, where they once again tasted defeat at the hands of Dunman Secondary. With less than four minutes remaining on the clock and Catholic High only trailing by five points, Tze Cong made his fifth foul and was forced to leave the court. By the end of the game, Dunman had extended their lead to 15 with a 54-39 win over Catholic High.
In the national semi-final against Ahmad Ibrahim, Tze Cong also fouled out at the end of the third quarter after getting three foul calls in quick succession at one point. With Tze Cong out of the game, Ahmad Ibrahim reduced Catholic High’s lead from 11 points to a measly two, but lost when their own main players fouled out as well.
In the national final, Catholic High were pitted once more against Dunman Secondary. After committing three fouls in the first half, Tze Cong managed to restrain himself and play in a more controlled fashion, allowing him to stay on court for the entire duration of the game. Catholic High eventually won the rematch, handing Dunman their first defeat this season and taking the national title.
With only two losses this season, Catholic High ends their 2012 C Division campaign with a 15-2 win-loss record.
Tze Cong was such a significant player that the coaches of the teams playing against Catholic High had to plan some of their strategy around him.
North Vista’s coach, Sim Chee Siong, was heard berating one of his players during the match post-mortem for getting emotionally caught up and attempting to go up one-on-one at the basket with Tze Cong.
Ahmad Ibrahim’s coach, Charles Cheak, suggested after the final that the reason Dunman Secondary lost in the boys’ final was that they were unable to provoke enough fouls from Tze Cong to eject him from the court.
Next year, Tze Cong will join Catholic High’s B Division team, reuniting with the same team-mates that brought Catholic High to the C Division final last year before losing to Unity Secondary. Now carrying the twin titles of MVP and C Division National Champion on his shoulders, Tze Cong is set to add his own brand of furious excitement to 2013’s B Division season.
When asked about his aspirations for next year, Tze Cong replied, “National champion.” Even as teammate quickly added that Catholic High would be aiming for the National top four, Tze Cong continued, “Champion is the target, but Top Four is what we MUST achieve.”
As for Catholic High’s C Division team, it remains to be seen whether there will be anyone to rise to the occasion to take over Tze Cong’s place as team ace and defend their national title.
More photos in gallery next page
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