Clementi Sports Hall, Friday, August 5, 2011 — There were many talking points but what mattered most was that Jurong Secondary came away victors of this National C Division Basketball Championship Round 2 match with an 8-point, 53-45 victory over Anglican High.

Unity Secondary had earlier clinched the top placing in the group by beating both Jurong and Anglican High with comfortable margins.

Jurong had the upper hand in the first quarter with an 18-9 lead and kept up the pressure to lead by 32-20 at the end of the first half.

The excitement of the match mounted in the third quarter however as Anglican High launched desperate waves of attacking play on the back of their key forward #7. He scored on determined drives to the basket to give his team a glimmer of hope, as Anglican High closed the gap to trail by just five points (27-32) at the end of the third quarter.

Anglican High continued in a similar vein in the fourth quarter by restricting the Jurong centres in defence to few offensive rebounds. This strategy proved successful as they narrowed the gap to 41-43 midway through the final quarter.

However some disputable refereeing calls put paid to the hopes of the Anglican High team as their coach was slapped with a technical foul after arguing against a non-call by the referee towards the end of the game.

Jurong’s #12, who had been outstanding for his team until this point, coolly sank all four technical free throws to give his team an unassailable six-point lead.

The lead was eventually extended to eight points before time ran out on the efforts of the Anglican High.

With the win, Jurong go on to face Catholic High in a repeat of their first round national encounter where they edged out Catholic High by four points in overtime. Catholic High had earlier beaten both Dunman Secondary and Seng Kang Secondary to top their group.

Dunman meanwhile earned the right to play Unity in the semi-finals with a hard fought 51-33 win over Seng Kang.

Both the boys and girls’ semi-final matches will be played at Clementi Sports Hall on Friday, August 12th.

Scoring by Quarters
Jurong Sec v Anglican High
1st Q: 18-9
2nd Q: 14-11
3rd Q: 5-12
4th Q: 16-13

National C Division Boys’ Basketball Championship — full fixtures and results