Story by REDintern Zachary Foo
Nino Jansen Castillo (Raffles #14) drives past James Ee (Yuying #7). He was the top scorer in the game with 14 points. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
PESEB, Evans Road, Wednesday, July 31, 2013 – Raffles Institution defeated Yuying Secondary 48–40 in a do-or-die match to qualify for the semi-finals in the South Zone C Division Boys Basketball Championship.
Both teams required a win to progress into the semis. Raffles now move on to face a familiar foe in Fairfield Methodist School, whom they defeated last year to finished third in the zone.
It was extremely evident that Raffles came into the game with one plan: to pound the ball into the post at every chance possible and to use their advantage in height and strength to make baskets. This was very effective in the early stages of the game. Raffles would inbound the ball to Danny Goh Zhi Jie (#10), who would the look for an open team mate on the opposite block or finish the play on his own. Danny had three baskets and tallied four assists in the first quarter, thanks to this strategy.
Yuying’s defence were in complete disarray as they sought a way to contain Danny’s height advantage, but were unable to do so. This spilt over into their offence, as they had no proper half-court set and resorted to shot attempts that were not within the flow of the game. Surprisingly, Yuying managed to cling on and went into the second quarter down by only four points.
The second quarter was extremely slow as both teams experienced a scoring drought. Nino Jansen Castillo (#14) broke the monotony with a put-back basket in traffic. It was the first basket made in over two minutes. Nino proved to be vital to stretching his team’s lead, as he had eight points in the quarter, highlighted by a nice spin move baseline to shake two defenders and score.
The game began to drift from Yuying’s grasp in the third quarter, as they committed a lot of turnovers, leaving points on the table. Raffles was marshalled by captain Marcus Soon Khai Siang (#5), who made sure the defence was set and also provided a steady hand facilitating the offence. This allowed to Raffles to head into the final quarter with a 35–24 lead.
In the final quarter, Yuying started a mini-comeback as they went for broke. They became more aggressive on both ends, attempting lower percentage steals and taking three-pointers. This allowed them to pull to within single digits and drastically changed the atmosphere of the game, as both teams sensed that they still had an equal chance of qualifying. However, Raffles turned up their defence and rattled off six straight points to close off the game, emerging 48–40 winners in the end.
Raffles’ captain, Marcus (#5) said: “I don’t think we felt that much pressure even though we knew this was an important match. At least we won in the end. I think as a whole, we played better in our previous game, when we faced a stronger team and won by a bigger margin. We have to look out for Fairfield Methodist as they seem to be extremely strong this year. I just hope for the best and that we will win the zone.”
Scoring by Quarter
Yuying vs Raffles
1st Quarter: 11–15
2nd Quarter: 6–10 (16–25)
3rd Quarter: 5–10 (21–35)
4th Quarter: 19–13 (40–48)
Top Scorer
Yuying Secondary
Pang Biao En (#8) — 13 points
Raffles Institution
Nino Jansen Castillo (#14) — 14 points
Mark Lucas Yeo Jia Rui (#11) — 11 points
Yuying Roster
Ong Zheng Long (#4), Parry Chua Jia Wei (#5), Teo Xin Kiat (#6), James Ee (#7), Pang Biao En (#8), Keith Teo Zhe Ming (#9), Jack Tan (#10), Ariel Lee (#11), Keith Tan (#12), Andre Ong (#13), Wong Wei Hong (#14), Lee Jun Chye (#15)
Raffles Roster
Jung Sung Bum (#4), Marcus Soon Khai Siang (#5), Brendon Ngiam Jia Long (#6), Neo Yu Fan (#7), Liu Jia Wei (#8), Aiden Phua Ze Xuan (#9), Danny Goh Zhi Jie (#10), Mark Lucas Yeo Jia Rui (#11), Toby Yan Yi Qing (#12), Kerby Soh Chen Ker (#13), Nino Jansen Castillo (#14), Jethro Kwong Jun Hao (#15)
2013 South Zone C Division Basketball Championship – fixtures and results
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