Woodlands Ring Secondary trounce Fuchun in B Division North Zone basketball

Story and photos by REDIntern Alan Chiang

Singapore Basketball Centre, Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - Woodlands Ring Secondary took the top spot in Group C, after wiping out Fuchun Secondary 73-15 in the boys’ B Division North Zone Basketball Championship.

Woodlands Ring came into the match with a winning streak of four games while Fuchun were still seeking a win. The current group leader, Woodlands Ring, proved too strong for a weakened Fuchun from the start till the end of the match.

It was Woodlands Ring who won the first tip and began the match stalwartly. They applied full court press and fast break tactics to dampen the hopes of Fuchun.

However, Hong Siang (FC, #9) did not want to go down easily. He spearheaded the Fuchun offence with his speedy movements and mazy dribbles as he distributed the play. However, he could not find any support from his team mates and as a result, Woodlands Ring Secondary took the first quarter 13-4.

Both teams got off to a slow start for the second quarter with the first two points coming only after three minutes of play from Chao Jian (WRS, #11) with an accurate shot which sparked a 6-0 Woodlands Ring run.

As play went on though, Woodlands Ring got a little overconfident and their passes went astray, forcing their coach to call for a time-out to reorganize the team.

Moreover, Fuchun Secondary only managed a single three-pointer from Hong Siang (FC, #9) for the entire second quarter which gave rise to a 30-7 Woodlands Ring lead at half time.

Woodlands Ring Secondary began the third quarter with a tighter defense and deployed tough marking on their opponents, resulting in a 10-0 run. They dominated the offensive board as they exploited their height advantage.

After four minutes of play, the Woodlands Ring coach substituted his first team with reserves. De Jin (WRS, #5) came on to make a couple of steals and drained vital shots to extend the Woodlands Ring lead. Joe (FC, #6) contributed the only two points of the third quarter for Fuchun only with 2:35 left.

At the start of the final quarter, the Woodlands Ring coach continued with the reserves. Six Woodlands Ring players contributed points in the final quarter, namely Samuel (#4), De Jin (#5), Jun Jie (#6), Chee Hao (#8), Chao Jian (#11) and Shui Yuan (#13) to contribute ultimately to their 73-15 victory.

While Woodlands Ring can celebrate their fifth consecutive victory with a classic all-round performance, Fuchun Secondary can only look forward to a final chance to break their duck against Yio Chu Kang Secondary who have a 2-wins 2-losses record.

Match Statistics:

Scores by quarter
1st Q: FC 4 – WRS 13
2nd Q: FC 7 – WRS 30
3rd Q: FC 11 – WRS 53
4th Q: FC 15 – WRS 73

Top scorer:
FC
Hong Siang (#9) – 8 points
Joe (#6) – 4 points

WRS
Samuel (#4) – 13 points
De Jin (#5) – 13 points
Chee Hao (#8) – 12 points