Story and photos by Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports
Lim Zhi Jia (DHS #10) with the drive against her defender. (Photo 1 © Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports)
OCBC Arena, Monday, April 24, 2017 — Dunman High School (DHS) survived a fourth quarter comeback from Nanyang Junior College (NYJC) to win 33-28 in the National A Division Basketball Championship.
With this win, DHS have a 2-0 win-loss record. They defeated Yishun Junior College (YJC) previously and will be up against Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) next.
On the other hand, NYJC have a 1-1 win-loss record after this game. They had won against ACJC previously. NYJC will play against YJC next and have to win to advance to the second round.
DHS got the tip and went to work immediately. Tabitha Tay (DHS #14) drew a foul and made one of two free throws. DHS played good defense on NYJC as they forced turnovers and quickly went up 8-0.
It was a slow start for NYJC as their players could not find their mark and missed many of their opportunities to score. Joelle Thng (NYJC #15) made an offensive put-back to score NYJC’s first basket of the game. However, DHS were up 16-6 after the first quarter.
NYJC continued their shooting woes. Despite that, they were able to increase their defensive intensity to stop DHS on the offensive end. They kept the game within striking distance being just down 11 heading into the fourth.
Just when it seemed like the game is in the bag for DHS, NYJC mounted a furious comeback in the fourth. Guan Mingxia (NYJC #9) and Nabilah Bte Khairul Anwar (NYJC #12) got into a groove and made back to back three-point shots to cut the lead to five.
Continuing their high intensity defense, NYJC managed to force several turnovers off DHS to score on the transition fast-break. NYJC managed to get the lead down to three points.
Not wanting to give the game away, DHS hustled and played harder and managed to score two transition baskets to get their lead back up. Despite that, NYJC continued to score to cut the lead.
With less than a minute to play, NYJC played well and drove in to draw the fouls. However, they could not capitalize and hit their free throws to cut the lead. With time winding down, NYJC’s comeback efforts fell short when the final buzzer sounded. DHS managed to hang on to win 33-28.
Captain of DHS, Selina Ang (DHS #8), commented, “I think we could have done better in terms of our defense. Our transition defense wasn’t that good which almost allowed them to comeback. We could have communicated better so we knew who to stop at the moment. When they get the defensive rebound, all of us just rushed to stop the rebounder, which gives their forwards the open fast-breaks. Instead, we could have voiced out who will go and stop the rebounder while the rest go back on defense.”
Scoring by Quarter
DHS vs NYJC
1st Q: 16-06
2nd Q: 03-07 (19-13)
3rd Q: 07-02 (26-15)
4th Q: 07-13 (33-28)
Top Scorers
DHS
Tabitha Tay (#14) – 9 pts
NYJC
Guan Mingxia (#9) – 8 pts
Nabilah Bte Khairul Anwar (#12) – 8 pts
DHS Roster
Teh Wen Jan (#4), Teh Wen Ruey (#5), Sophie Tan (#6), Tan Hui Xiang (#7), Selina Ang (#8), Sonia Tan (#9), Lim Zhi Jia (#10), Gladys Leng (#11), Audrey Chrysilla (#12), Kolette Lim (#13), Tabitha Tay (#14), Li Ruohua (#15)
NYJC Roster
Natrecia Tsai Yijie (#0), Tan En Ting Lynn (#1), Chua Yi Jing (#3), Lai Shi Yun Renee (#6), Annabel Chua Si Hui (#8), Guan Mingxia (#9), Pooja Srinivas Nag (#10), Phui Ashley (#11), Nabilah Bte Khairul Anwar (#12), Roxanne Lau Shu Xin (#13), Ashwini Naidu (#14), Joelle Thng (#15)
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