Story and photos by Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports
Haran (US #5) looks to pass to the open shooter. He had a team-high 20 points. (Photo 1 © Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports)
Jurong East Sports Hall, Friday, April 7, 2017 — Unity Secondary (US) overwhelmed Christ Church Secondary (CC) 75-61 in the semi-final of the National B Division Basketball Championship.
With this win, Unity are through to the final with a 4-3 win-loss record in the Nationals. They will face North Vista Secondary in the final.
This loss drops Christ Church to a 5-2 record in the Nationals. They will face Presbyterian High to determine who finishes third.
Christ Church made the first basket from Pan Ming Hui (CC#22) after he got a steal and went on the fast-break to score two.
However, Unity answered with a quick basket to tie things up.
Both sides were trading baskets but Unity managed to pull ahead as Jonathan Ng (US #35) knocked down a three. Unity went on to outscore Christ Church 16-12 in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Unity played excellent full-court press defense to force many turnovers off Christ Church. Defense led to offense as Unity converted these turnovers into fast-break points. They went on a 17-0 run to increase their lead.
They limited Christ Church to just six points in the quarter while scoring 25 points to lead 41-18 at the half.
Christ Church came out of the break with the desire to catch up. They played good defense to force turnovers off Unity and scored on the fast-break opportunities. Eugene Junior (CC #23) hit back-to-back threes to cut the lead farther.
While Christ Church outscored Unity 25-14 in the third, Unity were still up 55-43.
In the fourth, Unity continued to play good defense to force turnovers and score on the transition offense. With a strong interior presence, Unity were able to block several of Christ Church’s layup attempts to prevent Christ Church from catching up.
However, Christ Church persevered and showed grit by enduring and continuing to score while trying to contain Unity’s offense. In doing so, Pan Ming Hui (CC #22) fouled out of the game. This was a blow to Christ Church as he was one of the key offensive players for Christ Church.
Despite that, Christ Church continued to fight hard. Rico Liu (CC #31) gave his all and was able to make some steals to give Christ Church the opportunity to score. Christ Church were able to cut the lead down to eight.
Just when the momentum seem to have shifted in Christ Church’s favor, Haran (US #5) got a steal and converted the basket to bring the lead back up to 10. Unity sealed the deal as they made clutch baskets down the stretch to go on a 6-0 run to end the game 75-61 winners.
Unity captain Ethan (US #7) said, “Firstly I want to thank our supporters for being so helpful in cheering. In our second round, we faced a lot of losses and we just had the hunger to win. Although some parts we were panicking, we didn’t give up and continued to play ball. But the thing that really helped was just our hunger to win.”
“To my teammates, thank you for fighting so hard with me. It might be the last year for most of us so thank you for all the time together in tiring trainings, and the long and painful journey to get here today.”
Scoring by Quarter
Unity vs Christ Church
1st Q: 16-12
2nd Q: 25-6 (41-18)
3rd Q: 14-25 (55-43)
4th Q: 20-18 (75-61)
Top Scorers
Unity
Haran (#5) – 20 pts
Jonathan Ng (#35) – 15 pts
Christ Church
Eugene Junior (#23) – 23 pts
Ernest Kwek (#32) – 13 pts
Unity Roster
Stev Chua (#0), Ryan Hoa (#2), Hairie (#4), Haran (#5), Gabriel Khoo (#6), Ethan (#7), Brian Julian (#8), Marco (#11), Micheal Jordan (#13), Soh Zi Xuan (#15), Jonathan Ng (#35), Karl Brian (#71)
Christ Church Roster
Wong Yi Dian (#20), Jason Soh (#21), Pan Ming Hui (#22), Eugene Junior (#23), Lin Kai Yao (#24), Oscar Ong (#28), Lee Looi Yen (#29), Lee De En (#30), Rico Liu (#31), Ernest Kwek (#32), Yeo Yuan Jun (#33), Jonathan Gue (#34)
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