Story and photos by Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports
Valentia Wong (CC #21) with the hoop and the harm. She led her team with a team-high 23 points. (Photo 1 © Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports)
Jurong East Sports Hall, Friday, April 7, 2017 — Christ Church Secondary (CC) got off to a slow start but rallied to defeat Singapore Chinese Girls’ School (SCGS) 59-49 and advanced to the final in the National B Division Basketball Championship.
With this victory, Christ Church have a 6-1 win-loss record in the Nationals. They will be up against Jurong Secondary in the final.
SCGS got handed their second loss of the season to fall to 5-2 and will play against North Vista Secondary next to determine who finishes third.
SCGS got off to a quick start. Mabel Anton (SCGS #10) and Patricia Orenza (SCGS #7) made two fast-break baskets in a row to quickly lead by four.
Knowing their shots were off since their warm-up, Valentia Wong (#21) drove in more to draw fouls and made her way to the free-throw line to try and cut the lead. Despite the efforts, their shots were off and Christ Church found that they could not capitalize at the free throw line to catch up.
SCGS continued on a scoring streak with Haziera Hairudinsah (SCGS #5) knocking down a three. SCGS were up 20-9 as they went on a 12-0 run to end the first quarter.
Despite the hot first quarter by SCGS, Christ Church made use of the break to reorganise themselves. They came into the second quarter more composed and started to execute their plays more smoothly. Kau Wen Qi (CC #32) and Valentia Wong (#21) made back to back threes as Christ Church went on a 10-0 run to cut the SCGS lead down to three.
Other than that, Christ Church also played excellent defense by making sure SCGS had no open looks and disrupting their shooting rhythm. They limited SCGS to just six points while scoring 19 themselves to tie things up at 26 after the first half.
In the third, both teams came out of the break with every intention to pull away from the start. They fought hard and traded baskets. However, SCGS, who played aggressively, fouled Christ Church on several occasions to get into the penalty early. Christ Church made three free throws to lead by three.
However, Nadia Ghani (SCGS #9) knocked down a three to tie things up.
Christ Church were able to get into a rhythm after that and went on a 6-0 run and led 43-37 to end the third.
Patricia Orenza (SCGS #7) of SCGS knocked down a three-point shot to start the fourth. However, their aggressive defense continued to rake up fouls for SCGS. SCGS got into the penalty early throughout the game.
As Christ Church continued their steady scoring, Gladys Ng (CC #29) was there for the offensive put-back throughout the game. With a hardworking teammate who was hustling to get the rebounds for them, Christ Church were able to shoot from the perimeter, trusting that if their shots missed, Gladys (CC #29) will be there for the put-back.
While Patricia Orenza (SCGS #9) tried to carry the team to victory by knocking down four three-point shots in the last quarter and having a game-high 26 points, Christ Church’s team play continued to get them baskets. With time expiring, Kau Wen Qi (CC #32) hit a dagger three and Valentia Wong (CC #21) made a clutch jumper to seal the deal 59-49 to advance to the final.
Christ Church’s captain, Tan Hui Xuan (CC#25), said, “They did well in their threes which were consistent. While we did try to put pressure on their shot attempt, our main focus was to get the defensive rebound after their shots were released. We also did well in getting them into foul trouble.”
Her teammate Gladys Ng (CC #29) added, “We trained very hard since Sec One which helped us set the foundation in our stamina. It was all about the mind over the body. After losing to Yishun Town previously, we realized it was all about the mentality we had. So we just persevered and pressed on no matter how tired we were.”
Scoring by Quarter
Christ Church vs SCGS
1st Q: 7-20
2nd Q: 19-6 (26-26)
3rd Q: 17-11 (43-37)
4th Q: 16-12 (59-49)
Top Scorers
Christ Church
Valentia Wong (#21) – 23 pts
Gladys Ng (#29) – 16 pts
Kau Wen Qi (#32) – 13 pts
SCGS
Patricia Orenza (#7) – 26 pts
Christ Church Roster
Valentia Wong (#21), Wong Wei Li (#22), Chew Sheng Xuan (#23), Zafira Alyssa (#24), Tan Hui Xuan (#25), Shannevie Teo (#26), Mildred Por (#28), Gladys Ng (#29), Chen Xiao Juan (#30), Peggy Goh (#31), Kau Wen Qi (#32), Sharifah Fahimah (#35)
SCGS Roster
Clarice Lee (#4), Haziera Hairudinsah (#5), Tay Jin Ting (#6), Patricia Orenza (#7), Angela Wang (#8), Nadia Ghani (#9), Mabel Anton (#10), Dylen Serrano (#11), Margaret Suriya (#12), Freda Wee (#13), Lee Yan (#14), Lee Fang Yu (#15)
More photos next page
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