RI hold on for 61-52 win against Catholic High in B Division South Zone basketball

Story by Erwin Wong/Red Sports. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.

CCAB, Friday, February 5, 2010 - Raffles Institution maintained their unbeaten run in the Boys' B Division South Zone basketball competition with a 61-52 victory over defending zone champions Catholic High School, as the second round matches got underway.

RI captain Jordaan Goh led his team with a game-high 26 points, but coach Yeang Cherng felt that Lawrence Gregory stood out the most for his team, despite scoring only two baskets.

"(He impressed) in the intangibles; loose balls, rebounds, leadership," he said on Lawrence, who also won a silver medal in the C Division Long Jump event during the 2007 National Schools track and field championships.

And it was Lawrence who assisted Jordaan's first two of his 12 first quarter points, as Catholic High fell prey to the full court press that RI sprang. Jordaan broke a 6-6 tie with a pull-up baseline jumper, then had three consecutive lay ups off Catholic High turnovers to break the game open, as RI led 15-8 after the first period.

This cost Catholic High the game, according to coach and teacher-in-charge Ian Chew. "I think we were quite rushed today, and committed a lot of turnovers. RI had greater composure. The key was the first quarter. If you look at the stats, the next three quarters were pretty close. In fact we out-scored them in the last quarter."

RI led by as many as 15 points, after Justin Chua's open jumper late in the third quarter made it 45-30, and still held a double digit lead till Catholic High's Bryan Koh scored inside with 1:48 to play to cut the RI lead to 45-54. Anthony Lie then pulled Catholic High to within six points (49-55), but Bryan Chng made a tough lay up in traffic and Jordaan scored despite drawing contact from Anthony, as RI held on to win.

When asked what the main difference between the two teams were, RI coach Yeang Cherng said, "I think Catholic High played very well. I think they played above themselves. Despite the pressure that they gave to us, the difference was that we were able to hold on and not let them overtake us."

Despite the team's first loss in the South Zone competition, Mr Chew was optimistic and forward-looking. "There's still everything to play for. The key thing is to qualify for the semi-finals, and for the Nationals. So our focus will be to take one game at a time. It still lies in our hands."

RI will next play Gan Eng Seng Secondary School on Monday, February 8, at 1300hrs, while Catholic High will look to bounce back in their next match on Wednesday, February 10, at 1300hrs, also against Gan Eng Seng.

Peirce Secondary School and Kent Ridge Secondary School make up the other teams in Group X. All matches will be played at CCAB, Evans Road.

Team list:

Catholic High:
#4 Matthew Ang
#5 Sathyaselan Ayanam
#6 Bryan Koh
#7 Duncan Koh
#8 Anthony Lie
#9 Yim Yi Xiang
#10 Aaron Wong
#11 Aaron Pang
#12 Lee You Chen
#13 Vincent Lim
#14 Justin Lee
#15 Dillon Low

Raffles Institution:
#4 Joel Cheong
#5 Lawrence Gregory
#6 Alex Loh
#7 Brendam Sim
#8 Jordaan Goh
#9 Justin Chua
#10 Daniel Sebastian
#11 Benedict
#12 Gregory Wong
#13 Momo
#14 Bryan Chng
#15 Yves

Scoring breakdown by quarter:
Catholic High v Raffles Institution
1st Q: 8-15
2nd Q: 12-13
3rd Q: 12-17
4th Q: 20-16

Top scorers:

Jordaan Goh (RI #8) - 26 points
Bryan Koh (CH #6) - 16 points
Bryan Chng (RI #14) - 11 points
Sathyaselan (CH #5) - 11 points