Yishun Town Secondary overpower Anderson to advance into B Division Girls North Zone basketball final

Story by REDintern Alan Chiang, Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

Singapore Basketball Centre, Monday, March 2, 2009 - The strength in depth of Yishun Town Secondary proved too strong for Anderson Secondary as they churned out an easy 82-48 victory in their B Division Girls North Zone basketball semi-final.

Shermaine See (Yishun Town, #4) was inspirational as she contributed 16 points and distributed play efficiently throughout the match. Sandra Goh (Yishun Town, #10) and Jie Ying (Yishun Town, #5) added 15 and 14 points respectively to complete the rout. Even Kun Yan ´s (Anderson, #10) 20-point game was not sufficient to avoid defeat.

Anderson Secondary got off to a good start initially but Yishun Town caught them off-guard and had a 8-0 run after six minutes of play in the first quarter to jump out to a 12-5 lead.

With 3:25 remaining, the Anderson coach called for a tactical timeout to sort things out with the defense to discuss several unforced mistakes that caused Anderson to trail by as many as 12 points.

However, that motivational talk was not enough to prevent Shermaine (Yishun Town, #4) and Jie Ying (Yishun Town, #5) from breaking away with eight points each in the first quarter. Yishun Town led 24-10 by the end of the quarter.

Nonetheless, things got better for Anderson in the second quarter. Kun Yan (Anderson, #10) sprang to life and scored five straight points in the first four minutes of play. She made two vital 3-pointers but the tide was overturned instantaneously as Yishun Town continued to exploit their fast break tactics and forced Anderson to commit series of turnovers.

Yishun Town produced an all-round performance as all five on-court players got on the score sheet leaving Anderson trailing 24-45 at the half-time break.

The third quarter belonged to Yishun Town as they broke through the Anderson defense repeatedly to lead by as many as 26 points after 3:47 of play. Midway through the third quarter, Anderson went on a 6-0 run with S. Lekha (Anderson, #7), Kun Yan (Anderson, #10) and Yan Ting (Anderson, #13) all converting important shots. Yishun Town ended the quarter leading 63-38 with their reserves on court.

The final quarter saw as many as eight players from Yishun Town making shots, making it impossible for Anderson to stage a revival.

After the match, the Yishun Town coach said, "I am satisfied with the team's performance. I hope that the team will win the final this coming Thursday."

Shermaine (Yishun Town, #4) was jubilant once the final buzzer was sounded. She said, "For today, I just go out (sic) and play. Now, I look forward to the final showdown."

Yishun Town will now square off with Woodgrove Secondary for the B Division Girls North Zone basketball crown.

Match Statistics:
Biggest lead:
Yishun Town: 34 points
Anderson: 3 points

Scores by quarter:
Yishun Town – Anderson
1st Q: 24 - 10
2nd Q: 45 - 24
3rd Q: 63 - 38
4th Q: 82 - 48

Top scorer:
Yishun Town
Shermaine See (#4) - 16 points
Sandra Goh (#10) - 15 points
Jie Ying (#5) - 14 points

Anderson
Kun Yan (#10) - 20 points
S. Lekha (#7) - 11 points