B Division Basketball: New Town stun Unity with slim victory

Clementi Sports Hall, Friday, April 21, 2011 — Forward Hibshamir (New Town #7) put in a virtuoso performance with a game-high 32 points as his team recorded a rare 68-67 win over defending champions Unity Secondary in the Round 2 of the National B Division Boys’ Basketball Championship.

Unity, also the West Zone champions, had a taste of the frenetic nature of the match when they only had a narrow one-point advantage after the first quarter. Centre Delvin Goh (#14, Unity Sec) was limited to four points in that quarter by the New Town defense who were bent on preventing the ball from getting into his hands. Hibshamir carried his team with eight points to keep the game close.

New Town went on a 21-11 scoring run in the second quarter, with point guard Chua Cheng Wei (#9) chipping in with seven points in that quarter. Unity’s cause was not helped by numerous turnovers which resulted in fast break opportunities for New Town, something which the speedy Hibshamir exploited with ease. He helped his team with 10 points in that period alone for New Town to lead 35-26 at half time.

Unity however showed their pedigree in the third quarter with a better 19-11 showing. This time, Delvin made good use of his 1.97m frame to grab some crucial offensive rebounds. He scored 10 of his 23 points in that quarter alone to close the gap on New Town to one at 45-46.

Role players from both teams stepped up in the crucial fourth and final quarter as their leading players began to tire. New Town’s Cheng Wei (#9) and Kennedy Toh (#6) were spot on from beyond the 3-point line while Unity’s Wong Keng Yang (#8) and Mernard Lee (#10) drove repeatedly into the paint for lay-ups.

New Town may have held on in the end for a precious 68-67 win in the end, but they were still eliminated from the competition on count back of points as they had lost their previous game against Anglican High by 11 points.

Unity, on the other hand, qualified as top of the group with a better points difference. Anglican High cruised to a 55-33 win against Ngee Ann Secondary in the other group match.

In the other final group games played on the same day, Dunman Secondary beat Raffles Institution 48-46 while Jurong Secondary thrashed Yishun Secondary 61-31. Dunman finished top of Group Y while Jurong were second.

Unity will now face Jurong in one semi-final while Anglican High will play Dunman in the other in a reprise of the West and East Zone finals respectively. Both semi-final matches will take place at Clementi Sports Hall on Monday, April 25th, at 3pm.

In the girls’ championship, Singapore Chinese Girls’ School beat Jurong West Secondary 37-24 to top their group and set up a semi-final meeting with Unity Secondary. Jurong West will face Dunman in the other semi-finals and both games will be played at 1pm, just before the boys’ semi-finals.

Scoring by Quarters
New Town v Unity
1st Q: 14-15
2nd Q: 21-11
3rd Q: 11-19
4th Q: 22-22

Scorers for the game
New Town
Hibshamir Bin Ibrahim (#7) — 32 points
Chua Cheng We1 (#9) — 15 points
Toh Chong Long Kennedy (#6) — 13 points
Tay Yi Xue Shawn (#12) — 6 points
Foo Chuan Shen (#8) — 2 points

Unity
Delvin Goh (#14) – 23 points
Wong Keng Yang (#8) —18 points
Mernard Lee (#10) — 10 points
Ian Valentino Sng (#7) — 5 points
Lim Kai Xiang (#15) — 5 points
Goh Zhung Kiat (#9) — 2 points

National B Division Basketball Championship — fixtures and results

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