By REDintern Khairulnizam
The Yishun B Division basketball team. Front row (from left to right): Woo Kee Joon (#10), Lee You Jie (#9), Zhou Qunshan (#8), Neilan Wong (#7), Lee You Yi (#6), Gan Hong Jie (#5), Ong Zi Yuan (#4). Back row (from left to right): Shawn Tay (#11), Wong Wei Heng (#12), Lin Jiahua (#13), Koo Zhi Xiong (#14), Leon Lee (#15). (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Singapore Basketball Centre, Monday, February 18, 2013 — Yishun Secondary claimed a convincing 58-50 win over Christ Church Secondary in their opening Round 2 game of the North Zone B Division Boys’ Basketball Championship.
Neilan Wong (#7) of Yishun had a game-high 21 points while Brian Cheng (#5) of Christ Church
had a team-high 16.
It was a tight game between the two teams for the first two quarters. Yishun netted their points through fast breaks and did not allow their opponents to pull away.
The first quarter ended with Yishun leading 10-8.
The second quarter was almost similar to the first, with both teams exchanging leads but never by more than 3 points.
Tay Yong Ann (#7) of Christ Church stood out especially in the second quarter as the playmaker, setting up baskets for others as well as scoring himself.
The second quarter saw both teams tied at 22-22.
Halfway through the third quarter, Yishun started to pull away to establish a six-point, 33-27 lead. The players went into the break with Yishun leading by 13 points at 44-31.
Christ Church came out of the break a different team and started to work on their comeback. They frustrated their opponents and capitalized on their mistakes, as well as forcing them to commit fouls.
As a result, Christ Church managed to cut Yishun’s lead down to seven points with two minutes left in the final quarter. However, Yishun managed to hold on to their lead to win 58-50.
Neilan Wong (#7), captain of Yishun, felt his team could have done better.
“It was not very good, we could have done better and beaten them with a better scoreline. Our offense was just not there today,” said Neilan.
“The highlight of the game for me is the third quarter where we managed to pull the points and establish a clear lead,” added Neilan.
The Christ Church captain, Chan Jia Yuan (#13), felt his team underperformed.
“We did badly today, especially on defense. I felt that we were unprepared for the match and we underperformed. They (Yishun) wanted the win more than us today,” said Jia Yuan.
He also added that he and his team would not give up and will continue to fight on till the very last match.
Both team captains predicted North Vista Secondary as the team to win this year’s zonal championship.
Score by Quarter
Yishun vs Christ Church
1st Quarter — 10-8
2nd Quarter — 12-14 (22-22)
3rd Quarter — 22-9 (44-31)
4th Quarter — 14-19 (58-50)
Top Scorers
Yishun
Neilan Wong (#7) – 21 points
Christ Church
Brian Cheng (#5) – 16 points
Yishun Roster
Ong Zi Yuan (#4), Gan Hong Jie (#5), Lee You Yi (#6), Neilan Wong (#7), Zhou Qunshan (#8), Lee You Jie (#9), Woo Kee Joon (#10), Shawn Tay (#11), Wong Wei Heng (#12), Lin Jiahua (#13), Koo Zhi Xiong (#14), Leon Lee Yitai (#15)
Christ Church Roster
Lim Ping Jie (#4), Brian Cheng (#5), Ten Chun Ching (#6), Tay Yong Ann (#7), Javier Tan (#8), Soh Ding Sheng (#9), Jodan Sng (#10), Ryan Low (#11), Lee Sau Wen Sean (#12), Chan Jia Yun (#13), Ng Jun Xiang (#14), Francis Ang (#15)
2013 North Zone B Division Basketball Championship — full fixtures and results
