Story by Zachary Foo/Red Sports.

Jia Wei (YTS #14) tries to put the ball up while she is defended by SKS #17 and SKS #97. (Photo 1 © Zachary Foo/Red Sports)


Singapore Basketball Centre, Tuesday, July 2, 2019 — Yishun Town Secondary (YTS) hit the ground running with a 44–29 win over Seng Kang Secondary (SKS) to start off Group X of the North Zone C Division Girls Basketball Championship. Jun Ning (YTS #12) led all scorers with 22 points, while her teammate Xin Min followed close behind with 10 points. SKS #17 poured in 16 points in a losing effort, while SKS #24 paced her team with 7 points.

YTS captain, Hannah (#18), had this to say about their win: “It feels encouraging to start the season with a win. It gives us the confidence to play better for our future games.”

Both teams got off to a shaking start, as they struggled to find the basket in the first three minutes of the game. Jun Ning (YTS #12) put YTS on the board with an open 3-pointer, ending the scoring drought. SKS #24 responded with a basket on the following possession to keep SKS close. The first quarter was a tight affair as the score gap was no more than one point. However, YTS strung together three straight fast break baskets which allowed them to head into the second quarter with a five-point lead.

YTS built up a huge lead in the second quarter, thanks to the 3-pointers of Jun Ning (YTS #12) coupled with smart drives to the basket by her teammates. SKS inexplicably left Jun Ning (YTS #12) open multiple times in the quarter, allowing her to sink three shots from beyond the arc. Both Xin Min (YTS #11) and Ziyi (YTS #17) took advantage of a stretched SKS defence to drive to the basket for easy baskets. This allowed YTS to put up 15 points in the quarter, giving them a comfortable 15-point lead heading into the half-time break.

SKS got their game plan together in the third quarter, as they started to match YTS basket for basket. They started to find some success getting the ball across the half-court and made a couple of baseline jumpers. YTS were content with maintaining the lead in the quarter, playing conservatively and ensuring that the game did not get out of hand.

SKS seemed to have their game plan solidified in the final quarter as they seemed to trim the lead down. However, YTS responded well to the adversity, as they hustled hard on the boards to get offensive rebounds. They were able to convert these second opportunities into baskets that were sufficient to keep the game away from SKS and eventually sealed their first victory of the season.

YTS captain, Hannah (#18) added: “We initially felt nervous as a team as it was our first game of the season, however, we eventually calmed our nerves and we encouraged each other and cheered for each other to do better each time. This boosted our spirits and increased our motivation to do better.”

Scoring by Quarter
Seng Kang Secondary vs Yishun Town
1st Quarter: 6–11
2nd Quarter: 4–15 (10–25)
3rd Quarter: 10–10 (20–35)
4th Quarter: 9–8 (29–44)
Top Scorers
Seng Kang
(#17) – 16 points
(#24) – 7 points
Yishun Town
Jun Ning (#12) – 22 points
Xin Min (#11) – 10 points
Seng Kang Roster
We were unable to obtain the roster for Seng Kang Secondary. If you know any of the players, kindly post them in the comments below and we’ll update the post. Thanks.
Yishun Town Roster
Adrienne (#2), Xin Min (#11), Jun Ning (#12), Jia Wei (#14), Jia Ying (#16), Ziyi (#17), Hannah (#18), Vanessa (#21), Qian Ning (#26), Clarissa (#30), Nadia (#31), Tanya (#69)

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