Story by REDintern Daniel Yeo. Photos by Chan Hua Zheng/Red Sports.
Tang Kah Wai (PHS #10) rises over the defense for a finger roll lay-up on a fast-break. He poured in a game-high 27 points in the victory. (Photo 1 © Chan Hua Zheng/Red Sports)
OCBC Arena, Wednesday, April 4, 2018 — In a showdown of Group A’s two first seeds, Presbyterian High School’s (PHS) defensive prowess and perimeter game drove them to a 75–57 win over Dunman Secondary (DMN) in their final quarterfinal game of the National B Division Basketball Championship.
This win propels Presbyterian High to a group-topping 3-0 win-loss record, while Dunman is eliminated from the tournament with a 1-2 win-loss record.
Presbyterian High were led by a blazing hot Tang Kah Wai (PHS #10), with a game-high 27 points, while teammates Constantin Lim (PHS #3) and Aaron Chaw (PHS #26) contributed 18 and 13 respectively. For Dunman, Liam Seth Israel (DMN #9) led their scorers with 16 points.
Allow Kah Wai (PHS #10) to summarize how Presbyterian High played on the day: “We played our full-court press well and managed to cause turnovers…We were quite on-form today.”
Indeed, from the first minute, Presbyterian High clamped down the Dunman offense with an asphyxiating full-court press. This caused a multitude of turnovers, steals, and fast-break buckets.
Even when Dunman managed to break through the full-court press and leave their defenders behind, they could not seem to get past Presbyterian High’s last man on the fast-break and score the basketball. However, they kept the game close by making sure they scored in their half-court sets.
Speaking of half-court sets, Presbyterian High was executing their drive-and-kick offence well, with quick passes to the open man on the perimeter. Even their centre, Jaron Ng (PHS #15), had an open look at the top of the semicircle, and he knocked it down.
Jaron wasn’t the only shooter draining it from deep – teammate Constantin (PHS #3) made three straight treys between the end of the first quarter and the start of the second, a personal nine-point scoring run which saw him eventually finish with four makes from distance.
Another Presbyterian High player getting it going was Ivan Kau (PHS #4). Although he did not score a single point in the game, his impact went far beyond what the score sheet portrayed. A pure point guard, Ivan came off the bench and initiated the offence, with playmaking which helped his whole team get better. In both fast-break situations and half-court sets, his timing and flashy passing helped him rack up assist after assist.
Surprisingly, the second quarter was a low scoring one – both teams were unable to convert on their looks from beyond the rainbow, and their zone defences prevented either from scoring easy points in the paint. The half subsequently ended with Presbyterian High up by eight.
The start of the third quarter was more of the same, with a rattled Dunman throwing away the ball as Presbyterian High jumped into passing lanes time and time again.
This quarter was also the one where Kah Wai (PHS #10) came out to play, scoring nine of Presbyterian High’s 19 in the quarter. If he was in a half-court set, if he was on a fast-break, he was going to put the ball in the basket.
Dunman, however, began to pick it up as the third quarter came to a close, and at one point closed the deficit to six to make it a two-possession game. This could be their last game of the season, and they knew it.
Presbyterian High knew it too, and despite only playing seven players, had a 22-point fourth quarter to take Dunman out of the tournament. Sharpshooter Aaron (PHS #26) scored six in the quarter as he drained multiple jumpers off screens. Kah Wai (PHS #10) scored eight more off his drives to the basket, with an especially nasty sequence where he performed a hesitation move and head-fake to lose his defender on one occasion.
Dunman was doing their best to get inside the paint for high-percentage looks, but their shots were just not falling. With just minutes left in the game, Guo Zhi Wei (DMN #6) attempted to get the team going with some hustle plays and assists, but ultimately, it would be too late. The game ended 75–57 in a resounding win for Presbyterian High.
They will next face Unity Secondary, the surprise second seed coming out of Group B, in the semi-final of the National B Division Basketball Championship.
The game will be held at Choa Chu Kang Sports Hall on April 6, with tip-off at 1:30pm.
Scoring by Quarter
Presbyterian High v Dunman Secondary
1st Q: 21–16
2nd Q: 13–10 (34–26)
3rd Q: 19–20 (53–46)
4th Q: 22–11 (75–57)
Leading Scorers
Presbyterian High
Tang Kah Wai (#10) – 27 points, 3 3PM
Constantin Lim (#3) – 18 points, 4 3PM
Aaron Chaw (#26) – 13 points
Dunman Secondary
Liam Seth Israel (#9) – 16 points
Presbyterian High Roster
Constantin Lim (#3), Ivan Kau (#4), Kovan Toh (#5), Thomas Lor (#7), Tang Kah Wai (#10), Foo Yong Ming (#12), Goh Yi Xiang (#13), Jaron Ng (#15), Dylan Lee (#20), Gifford Chua (#21), Aaron Chaw (#26), Reuben Ng (#35)
Dunman Secondary Roster
Marquez Joseph Alcantara (#4), Tiong Hoe Jian (#5), Guo Zhi Wei (#6), Chua Jia Ming (#7), Leroy Loh (#8), Liam Seth Israel (#9), Bryan Yong (#10), Moses Peh (#11), John Ng (#12), Dylan Tan (#13), Ethan Chan (#14), Parulan Jespar (#15)
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