By REDintern Tay Jun Wen
Covurn Tay (#13) of Nan Chiau lays up for two against Canberra. He had a game-high 14 points but his team eventually lost 31-45. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Singapore Basketball Centre, Wednesday, February 27, 2013 – Canberra Secondary defeated Nan Chiau High 45-31 in their final Round 2 game in the North Zone B Division Boys’ Basketball Championship. This win secured Canberra a place in the semi-finals against Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary.
The top-scorer for the game was Nan Chiau’s captain, Covurn Tay (#13), with 14 points. Canberra’s Lim Teck Leong (#8) was next, ending the game with a team-high of 12 points.
In past games, Canberra have shown that they take the first quarter to warm-up before they start to get more aggressive. This phenomenon occurred yet again in today’s game.
The first quarter was a low-scoring one. Nan Chiau High had initially taken a 5-0 lead. Having to win, this placed pressure on the Canberra team.
“We were nervous and scared to lose when they were leading by 5 points in the first quarter,” said Canberra’s team captain, Anthony Tan (#6).
After a lecture by their coach, Canberra scored four points before the quarter ended to trail Nan Chiau by one point (4-5).
“We did not cherish out 5-point lead. We could have won the game,” said Covurn.
In the second quarter, Nan Chiau High seemed to lose their initial momentum and this gave Canberra many opportunities to have fast breaks. As a result, Canberra outscored Nan Chiau 16-3 to lead 20-8 at half time.
The third quarter found Canberra getting more of the rebounds and better at boxing out their opponents under the basket. Chong Wen Xuan (#15) of Canberra suffered a sprained ankle but this did not stop Canberra from outscoring Nan Chiau 15-10 to extend their overall lead to 17 points at 35-18.
The final quarter saw Nan Chiau scoring more as they tried to catch up with Canberra.
Covurn said: “We did not focus in the beginning, but at least we tried to catch back some points in the last quarter.”
Their efforts paid off as Nan Chiau won the quarter 13-10. However, the three-point advantage was not enough to reduce the deficit and Canberra ended up winning the game by 14 points, 45-31.
Nan Chiau finished bottom of the six-team group with a 0-5 win-loss record. The win gave Canberra a 4-1 record and they topped the group by virtue of having beaten defending champions North Vista Secondary 43-34.
North Vista, with a similar 4-1 record, qualified for the semi-finals in second place behind Canberra.
Both semi-finals will take place on Monday, March 4th, 2.30pm, at Singapore Basketball Centre.
Score by Quarter
Nan Chiau High vs Canberra
1st Q: 5-4
2nd Q: 3-16 (8-20)
3rd Q: 10-15 (18-35)
4th Q: 13-10 (31-45)
Top Scorers
Nan Chiau High
Tay Choo Tat Covurn (#13) – 14 points
Yap Chong Han Marcus (#5), Lee Kai Ming Jabez (#6) – 4 points
Canberra
Lim Teck Leong (#8) – 12 points
Chong Wen Xuan (#15) – 8 points
Nan Chiau High Roster
Ong Wei Xin (#4), Yap Chong Han Marcus (#5), Lee Kai Ming Jabez (#6), Law Yi Keong (#7), Kion Tan (#8), Goh Si Hui (#9), Kong Zen Kid (#10), Kenny Tham Anjie (#11), Phyo Min Tun (#12), Tay Choo Tat Covurn (#13), Kevin Wang Wei Jie (#14), Chua Kai Chong (#15)
Canberra Roster
Tan Yi Yong (#4), Lee Xuan Yan (#5), Anthony Tan Jun Hong (#6), Gabryl Russel Koh Jun Hon (#7), Lim Teck Leong (#8), Sim An Rong Aaron (#9), Han Zhi Guang (#10), Portugal Brix Behona (#11), Wong Yu Heng Ryan (#12), Leon Sim Tze Hao (#13), Jacky Lim Teck Leng (#14), Chong Wen Xuan (#15)
2013 North Zone B Division Basketball Championship — fixtures and results
More photos next page
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