Krison Sum (#12) of Fairfield dribbles past Travis Thong (#4) of Catholic High. Krison had a team-high 12 points. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
PESEB, Wednesday, July 24, 2013 – Fairfield Methodist School (Secondary) survived a fourth quarter onslaught from Catholic High School to upset the defending champions 47–40 in the second round of the South Zone C Division Basketball Championship.
Fairfield had lost to Catholic High at this stage of the competition last year with Catholic High eventually emerging as winners of the zonal championship. Fairfield had to settle for fourth. This time, Fairfield were eager to impress and they did so in dramatic fashion.
After a tight first period, Fairfield started to pull away in the second quarter, limiting Catholic High to just two points in that 10-minute period while scoring 19 of their own. Not to be outdone, the defending champions clawed their way back into the match, evaporating a 17-point deficit to pull to within three points with over two minutes remaining. Fairfield, however, showed nerves of steel to ice the match from the free-throw line.
In arguably the most intense match of the second round so far, which saw four players foul out, Catholic High’s Marcus Chang (#7) scored a game-high 13 points while Lloyd Ng (#13) added another 12 for his side. Fairfield captain Krison Sum (#12) had 12 points and Xavier Ng (#13) netted 11 points in the win.
“We are definitely happy with this win and we thank God for the win,” said Krison.
“When they came back in the fourth quarter, we just stuck to the game plan and trusted our coach,” added the 14-year-old.
Both teams took some time to get their engines going, with Catholic High’s Marcus Ng (#7) only putting the first points on the board from the free-throw line two and a half minutes into the match. Marcus was outstanding in the first period, scoring seven of his 13 points to give his team a slim 12–7 lead at the first interval.
Marcus netted the first points of the second quarter as well, but things would change dramatically as that proved to be the only points Catholic High would score in the period.
John Ang’s (#9) trey sparked an impressive 19–0 run for Fairfield. Centre Xavier Ng (#13) tied things up at 14–14 with a minute and a half on the clock before combining with Krison to extend his team’s lead to 20–14.
The centre chalked up six points as his presence inside the paint gave Catholic High a hard time. The defending champions struggled on rebounds and made a couple of sloppy turnovers as well, allowing Fairfield to take a 28–14 lead into the half.
Catholic High performed much better in the third quarter as their defence finally found their shape and they were able to connect at the other end as well. However, Fairfield matched them basket for basket and even accumulated a 17-point lead at 39–22 with two minutes remaining in the quarter.
Fairfield seemed firmly in control as they took a 41–29 lead into the final 10 minutes of play, but Catholic High were not done yet. A solid defensive showing kept Fairfield silent for much of the quarter while they slowly trimmed the deficit.
Teh Jie Ren’s (#12) effort from the charity stripe for Catholic High with over two minutes to go eventually made it 38–41. Fairfield replied with Xavier nailing a free throw for his team’s first points of the quarter with a minute and 38 seconds remaining.
With time winding down, Catholic High could not make a basket and Fairfield were able to seal the upset from the line.
Following the win, Fairfield now set their sights on bigger things.
“This win will give us confidence for the rest of the tournament and even in the Nationals,” explained Krison.
“We are looking at the bigger picture and we feel we can go further in the Nationals. There are plenty of good teams out there. We want to go as far as we can in the Nationals as we do our best.”
P.S. On Friday, July 26, Fairfield beat Peirce Secondary 67–10 while Catholic High beat Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary 74–13. Fairfield lead the group with a 3–0 win-loss record while Catholic High are 2–1 in second place.
Scoring by Quarter
Fairfield vs Catholic High
1st Quarter: 9–12
2nd Quarter: 19–2 (28–14)
3rd Quarter: 13–15 (41–29)
4th Quarter: 6–11 (47-40)
Top Scorers
Fairfield Roster
Krison Sum (#12) — 12 points
Ng Jun Xavier (#13) — 11 points
Catholic High Roster
Marcus Chang (#7) — 13 points
Lloyd Ng (#13) — 12 points
Fairfield Roster
Ryan Chew (#4), Denzel Tan (#5), Jaryl Tan (#6), Ryan Lee (#7), Andre Ethan Wong (#8), John Ang Yi Heng (#9), Terry Lim (#10), Gavin Tay (#11), Krison Sum (#12), Ng Jun Xavier (#13), Jerome Tan (#14), Ihit Singh (#15)
Catholic High Roster
Travis Thong (#4), Luke Cheong (#5), Fan Yao En (#6), Marcus Chang (#7), Kieran Lim (#8), Lek Jie Wei (#9), Pang Chin Lim (#10), Choon Leng (#11), Teh Jie Ren (#12), Lloyd Ng (#13), Chow Wei Yang (#14), Keith Png (#15)
2013 South Zone C Division Basketball Championship – fixtures and results
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