Story by REDintern Daniel Yeo. Photos by Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports.
Brenndon Ariffin (#5) of North Vista Secondary shoots against Robin (#12) of Jurong West Secondary. (Photo 1 © Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports)
OCBC Arena, Tuesday, March 20, 2018 — North Vista Secondary (NV) blew out Jurong West Secondary (JWS) in their opening game of the National B Division Basketball Championship 61–21.
This meant that North Vista starts off with a 1–0 win-loss record while Jurong West drops to 0–1 in the win-loss column.
North Vista was led by Amos Tai (NV #7) with 14 points, including nine from deep. Jurong West was led by Robin (JWS #12) with 10 points.
From the starting buzzer, it was clear that North Vista was placing their emphasis on ball movement around the perimeter, swiftly swishing a trey for the first points of the game. They also employed their drive-and-kick offence on multiple possessions to great effect, and by the end of the first quarter, the team had knocked down five treys.
Jurong West, not to be outdone, hit a one-legged fade-away shot in the post for their first two not long after. However, after doing so, their offence slowed, and they only managed to score five more in the hotly contested quarter.
Although the score-line after the first quarter was 19–7 in North Vista’s favor, it did not reflect the game’s level of intensity. Both teams had started off by playing some aggressive and physical defense.
Jurong West’s early defense forced North Vista to extend their lead by making difficult shots, like the and-one play North Vista converted near the end of the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter saw North Vista keep up their defensive intensity to record a number of steals which helped establish a 29–12 lead. Although a commendable effort by Jurong West’s defense caused a shot clock violation near the end of the first half, North Vista almost immediately stole the ball back and sank yet another trey.
The third quarter saw North Vista piling on the points from a different area of the court – in the paint. They could not convert on their open looks from beyond the rainbow but they made sure to crash the glass and give themselves second opportunities to score.
Jurong West’s captain, Anson (JWS #7), admitted: “Our fighting spirit and morale were just not there. We played at a different level as compared to our other games.”
They did their best to execute their set plays with screens and cuts, but to no avail. The third quarter saw a 20–4 scoring run by North Vista to put them up 49–16.
The last and final quarter followed a similar pattern, North Vista enlarging their sizable lead to eventually triumph 61–21.
The star of this game was North Vista’s suffocating defense. It was an aggressive trap defense created with double teams to cause turnovers in multiple ways: steals, travels, with even an eight-second violation and back-court violation to boot.
Despite the win, North Vista were counting on themselves to play better in the upcoming games. When asked about their performance on the day, they said, “It was bad, compared to our previous North Zone games…we weren’t used to the environment and couldn’t play our best.”
Jurong West, on the other hand, were able to find some positive takeaways to improve on before their next match: “The key things to improve on are having the confidence to win the game and wanting to win the game more than the other team. We can definitely play better on the court and play as a team.”
North Vista will take on Ngee Ann Secondary next, while Jurong West takes on Fairfield Methodist.
Both matches will be held at OCBC Arena on 22 March and tip-off will be at 12 pm.
Scoring by Quarter
North Vista v Jurong West
1st Q: 19–7
2nd Q: 10–5 (29–12)
3rd Q: 20–4 (49–16)
4th Q: 12–5 (61–21)
Leading Scorers
North Vista
Amos Tai (#7) — 14 points
Jurong West
Robin (#12) — 10 points
North Vista Roster
Shayan Medhi Nejad (#2), Chan Qi Feng (#3), Chace Ng Kai Le (#6), Vincent Gerard Embay Bancod (#4), Sim Yi Brenndon Ariffin (#5), Amos Tai (#7), Dillon Ong Yan Kai (#9), Arnald Foo Wei Bin (#10), Justen Chiam (#11), Jayson Yanoria (#24), Damien Yau (#25), Reuben David F Amado (#30)
Jurong West Roster
Sinyun (#6), Anson (#7), Linus (#8), Xiangyi (#9), Daniel (#11), Robin (#12), Amaan (#13), Steven (#14), Edric (#15), Wencheng (#16), Kelvin Seet (#17), Jerome (#18)
More photos next page
Leave A Comment