Guangyang Sec cruise to impressive win in South Zone basketball second round match

Story and photos by Mr Ian Chew/Red Sports.

Guangyang’s Jonathan Koh (#13) added an energetic 18 points to his team’s impressive 69-22 victory over Serangoon Gardens. (Photo © Ian Chew/Red Sports)

CCAB, Tuesday, July 8, 2008 – After the dust had settled from a wild first round series of the basketball games, the ten qualifying boys’ teams knuckled down to hustle of four available qualifying spots in the South Sone second round series of matches starting today at CCAB.

The second round games may not feature any 100-point wins as teams become more evenly matched, but one team certainly proved that they belonged in the bigger league. Vastly improved Guangyang Secondary relied a on a cohesive team performance to comprehensively snuff out Serangoon Gardens’ challenge 69-22.

The game started out ominously for Serangoon Gardens as Guangyang jumped to an early 20-6 lead by the end of the first quarter. Guard #8 was instrumental during this period for his team, scoring 8 of his 21 points in this quarter alone, including two baskets from long range.

Serangoon Gardens, on the other hand, was finding it difficult to establish any kind of offensive rhythm against the simple 3-2 zone defense of Guangyang. Instead, Guangyang’s forwards appeared well drilled to slice past the full court Serangoon Gardens zonal defense at will to score.

The telepathic understanding of Guangyang’s three guards #7, #8 and #9 continued to shine throughout the game, as they frequently involved each other in running circles around the Serangoon Gardens’ defense. They eventually accounted for 40 of their team’s 69 points.

A fast tiring Serangoon Gardens team eventually surrendered the final quarter 2-14, compared to an earlier energetic 43-71 loss to Yuying Sec in previous round.

Yet Mr Yong, teacher-in-charge of the Guangyang team was guarded about his team’s chances for the zonal semi finals.

“We are furiously preparing for our upcoming match against Catholic High on Thursday,” was his reply. Both Catholic High and Raffles Institution have been drawn in the same second round grouping as Guangyang, with only two qualifying places available from the group. Catholic High had beaten Bukit Merah Sec 85-39 in an earlier match.

A well drilled Guangyang Sec team steamrolled past a static Serangoon Garden defense time and time again. Besides Jonathan’s strong performance, the trio of #7, #8 and #9 were also instrumental in their team’s win. © Ian Chew/Red Sports)

Not to be outdone, Guangyang’s #15 scored 5 points for his team as well. © Ian Chew/Red Sports)