Story by REDintern Samantha Yom. Photos by Dylan Chua/Red Sports.

Kimberly Tay (AHS #7) at the free throw line. She scored 14 points in the victory. (Photo 1 © Dylan Chua/Red Sports)

Kimberly Tay (AHS #7) at the free throw line. She scored 14 points in the victory. (Photo 1 © Dylan Chua/Red Sports)

OCBC Arena, Wednesday, March 21, 2018 — There were two distinct emotions on the court after Anglican High School (AHS) scored a 15–33 triumph over St. Margaret’s Secondary School (SMSS) in the Preliminary Round match of the National B Division Girls’ Basketball Championship.

On one hand, there was joy and relief. Anglican High had high hopes for themselves going into Nationals and this win would take them closer to their goal.

“Everyone in our team wants to make it into the top eight because our ultimate goal for Nationals is to get into the top four, so we were all very determined to win this game,” noted Anglican High’s captain Aw Zi Yann (AHS #11).

On the other, there was the disappointment – made clear by the silence as St. Margaret’s did their warm down routine.

“Of course, we are sad (about the loss), but after a loss, we support one another by giving one another feedback on the areas we did well or those we can improve on. We also make sure to analyse our games from the videos we take and try to work on our area of improvements during trainings,” explained Seah Wan Ni (SMSS #11).

St. Margaret’s could only watch as Anglican High’s Kimberly Tay (AHS #7), the game’s top scorer with 14 points, sank a trey in the opening moments of the game. Anglican High continued to ride the wave, with an almost perfect conversion of free throws that added a total of five points to their name. St. Margaret’s, though, only managed a lone two-pointer in the whole ten minutes, which gave their rivals the lead with a scoreline of 8–2.

In the second quarter, the girls in white began to use their height to their advantage, allowing them to better garner rebounds and intercept passes. Meanwhile, Anglican High opted to swing the ball around the arc in order to sink more three-pointers. And they did, three of which came from Soo Weng Kei (AHS #6), who beat the buzzer to sink a field goal from the perimeter.

The score at half-time was 9–17.

Kimberly (AHS #7) once again opened the quarter with a three-pointer, but St. Margaret’s was quick to answer with a field goal by Wan Li Xin Yuan (SMSS #88) and Shanelle Selvakumar (#05) respectively.

Anglican High continued to administer their half-court press in the third quarter, though St. Margaret’s responded with equally sturdy defence, even forcing a shot-clock violation on the former. The last few minutes of the quarter saw a number of turnovers, resulting in both sides remaining scoreless.

By the end of the third quarter, Anglican High had a ten-point lead (23–13) over their opponents.

Both teams were unable to make any baskets for the first three minutes of the four quarter, as they struggled with lacklustre passing. At least, that was until St. Margaret’s Ng Regine (SMSS #06) made her team’s only basket for the quarter. Anglican High seemed to have found their scoring rhythm and further extended their lead, finishing the match with a scoreline of 33–15.

Naturally, Anglican High were pleased with their performance, yet they were sure to never let complacency get in their way.

Captain Zi Yann (AHS #11) explained, “Our team played very well today, especially in terms of our defence, which allowed us to keep our lead throughout the whole game. Despite our poor shooting, we compensated it with our lay-ups and free-throws.”

St. Margaret’s may have left the match defeated and slightly disheartened, but they left with a powerful reminder by their teacher too.

Pointing to the Anglican High players who were still practising their shots on the court, he asked his team what they thought motivated their rivals to keep practising even after a match. It was not a punishing coach nor a demanding teacher – it was something from within.

“(He reminded us that) basketball is passion. If you really love basketball, you’ll give it all you’ve got,” Wan Ni (SMSS #11) concluded.

Scoring by Quarter
SMSS vs AHS
1st Quarter: 2–8
2nd Quarter: 7–9 (9–17)
3rd Quarter: 4–6 (13–23)
4th Quarter: 2-10 (15–33)

Top Scorers
SMSS
Wan Li Xin Yuan (#88) – 6 points

AHS
Kimberly Tay (#7) – 14 points

SMSS Roster
Shanelle Selvakumar (#05), Ng Regine (#06), Heather Neo (#08), Emma Sudharman (#09), Wong Yew Ling (#10), Seah Wan Ni (#11), Faith Koh (#12), Cassidy Wong (#16), Amelia Foo (#17), Jean Tan (#28), Wan Li Xin Yuan (#88), Achelle Sim (#93)

AHS Roster
Tan Wei Lin (#3), Amabelle Lim (#5), Soo Weng Kei (#6), Kimberly Tay (#7), Tan Le Xuan (#8), Lee Li Xuan (#9), Aw Zi Yann (#11), Clara Chiang Wei Lin (#13), Atalanta Lim (#15), Annie Poh (#17), Koh Wei Ting (#20), Jane Hia (#21)

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