Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Vanessa Lim and Koh Yizhe/Red Sports
Hannah Ng (RI #4) scoring on the break. The Youth Olympic Games player put up a game-high 17 points. (Photo 1 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Singapore Basketball Centre, Friday, May 14, 2010 – Raffles Institution (RI) edged out Victoria Junior College (VJC) 45-41 in the semi-finals of the A Division Girls’ Basketball Championship.
RI led for much of the match, but VJC were never too far behind. It took a late run by RI in the fourth quarter to finally blow open the game. Even then, VJC still managed to trim the deficit towards the end to make RI sweat, but they eventually hung on for the win.
Although RI started the match perfectly with an 11-2 run, VJC stormed back quickly to cut the lead down to just three points at the end of the first quarter at 13-10. It was the same story in the second with RI trying their best to shake VJC off, but the Victorians kept finding a way back into the match.
VJC trailed by just four points at 18-22 at the half, and they showed what they were made of in the third quarter, scoring four straight points to level things at 22-22. Not to be outdone, RI hit back, going on an 8-0 run of their own with Hannah Ng leading the charge with a couple of fastbreak points.
This allowed them to take a 33-27 lead into the fourth.
However, VJC came out strongly in the final period, taking the game to RI and cutting the deficit to two at 31-33. VJC were doing all they could to hold RI back and they won the last quarter 14-12, but RI eventually replied with an 11-3 run, blowing the game open.
Although VJC mounted yet another comeback with Goh Wan Jun (#8) nailing a trey in the closing minutes, RI held on during the nail-biting last moments to seal a spot in the final.
“We had a good start today,” said RI’s coach Chiew Poh Leng. “This is the first time in the whole tournament that we had a good start! It was not like in the previous game against Hwa Chong Institution when we had a bad start. Against them, our shooting was bad, but today, we shot at least 20% better.”
Over on the adjacent court, Hwa Chong Institution made light work of St. Andrew’s Junior College 73-18 to book their place in the final. It was 16-0 at the end of the first as SAJC found no reply to the defending champions. Sara Choong (HCI #11) scored 16 points while Eva Seah (#7) added another 12 points.
The final will be played on Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 at Yishun Sports Hall at 1330 hours.
Deanna Ng (RI #13) goes up against Melissa Low oF VJC. The RI player was also a key puzzle piece in RI’s victory. (Photo 2 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Hannah Ng goes up for two – part of RI’s 11-2 run in the first. (Photo 3 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Clara Chua (VJC #10) struggled throughout the match against RI’s stubborn defense, but still managed 16 points. (Photo 4 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
The RI bench leap for joy at the final buzzer … (Photo 5 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
… and rush onto the court to embrace their teammates. (Photo 6 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
For more photos, go to the next page
photo 2: VJC player is Melissa Low