Singapore Schools overcome plucky Qun Yan for U17 girls basketball title (and other results)

Singapore Basketball Centre, Saturday, July 10, 2010 — Despite trailing 13-14 in the first quarter, Singapore Schools went on a decisive 15-4 run at the start of the fourth quarter to put the game beyond doubt and win 61-54.

Eight players from the Singapore Schools team contributed points in a balanced scoring performance by the winners.

Yet it could have been a different outcome, judging from the start of the game. Qun Yan came out with guns blazing and jumped to an 11-4 lead against some hesitant defending by Singapore Schools.

A switch of tactics from a zonal marking to a man-to-man defence enabled Singapore Schools to claw back some points, with forwards Janice Tan and Deanna Ng scoring on fast breaks to allow Singapore Schools to close the gap to 13-14 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter continued to be a closely contested one, with point guard Rowena Tay and forward Nur Shuhadah from Qun Yan combining well. Nur Shuhadah capped a fine performance by top scoring with 16 points.

Singapore Schools point guard Janice Ong though, had the last say in the first half, scoring the final two lay-ups for a slim 28-26 lead for her team.

A resurgent Qun Yan immediately replied in the third quarter by driving strongly into the paint area. Their aggressiveness was rewarded as they tied the game at 33 apiece.

Qun Yan’s profligacy at the line was to prove their undoing, though. Missing four consecutive free throws, they presented their opponents a precious lifeline. Singapore Schools forward Ng Su Rui was not as charitable as she sank all of her seven consecutive free throws to edge her team ahead 40-39.

A worrying moment came for Qun Yan when their point guard Rowena Tay went down with an ankle injury towards the end of the third quarter. She failed to return for the rest of the game.

Her services were sorely missed by her team as Singapore Schools went on a 15-4 run in the fourth quarter through fast breaks and accurate shooting from beyond the arc. Singapore Schools led by as much as 57-44 with three minutes left in the game.

Although Qun Yan did manage close the gap in final few minutes, including a crowd pleasing buzzer-beater 3-point shot from forward El Xue Han, it was not enough to prevent a deserved victory by the Singapore Schools team. In the end, the defensive pressure exerted by the winners throughout the game proved to be the difference.

Qun Yan suffered a double heartbreak when their senior girls team were edged out 59-60 by Kampong-Ubi Kembangan CSC in the later U19 final.

Scoring by Quarters
Qun Yan v Singapore Schools
1st Q: 14-13
2nd Q: 12-15
3rd Q: 13-14
4th Q: 15-19

Scorers
Qun Yan
Nur Shuhadah (#7) – 16 points
Guan Xue Fen (#8) – 13 points
Sin Man Yi (#10) – 8 points
Tay Anna Rowena (#14) – 7 points
El Xua Han (#13) – 5 points
Chew Su Bing (#6) – 3 points

Singapore Schools
Janice Ong (#4) – 14 points
Janice Ng (#9) – 13 points
Deanna Ng (#7) – 10 points
Ng Su Rui (#8) – 10 points
Lee Wang Min (#12) – 5 points
Han Mei Qi (#13) – 5 points
Cecilia Ng Shi Min (#10) – 2 points
Eralzyan (#15) – 2 points

For full fixtures and results, go to: http://basketball.redsports.sg/

To download your own set of fixtures, click here

First Round Girls (17 and under) Fixtures (correct at time of posting)

DATE	TIME	TEAM	PTS	TEAM	PTS	GRP
Sat, 5 Jun	1600	S'pore Min Chong Sports Club	64	Teck Ghee CSC	70	A
	1600	Qun Yan	61	Unity Sec Alumni	28	A
	1730	Kaixuan	40	Jurong West Sec	56	A
	1730	Fu Tian Dian Athletic Assn	38	Singapore Schools	70	B
	1900	Eng Tat Hornets	65	Stackers	29	B
	1900	T-Net @ Bt Merah East	47	T-Net @ Bt Merah	48	B
Sun, 13 Jun	1300	Teck Ghee CSC	55	Unity Sec Alumni	61	A
	1300	Jurong West Sec	40	Qun Yan	66	A
	1430	S'pore Min Chong Sports Club	53	Kaixuan	36	A
	1430	Singapore Schools	101	Stackers	27	B
	1600	T-Net @ Bt Merah	62	Eng Tat Hornets	39	B
	1600	Fu Tian Dian Athletic Assn	44	T-Net @ Bt Merah East	51	B
Sun, 20 Jun	1730	T-Net @ Bt Merah East	38	Singapore Schools	64	B
	1730	Stackers	32	T-Net @ Bt Merah	64	B
	1900	Eng Tat Hornets	37	Fu Tian Dian Athletic Assn	40	B
	1900	Kaixuan	34	Teck Ghee CSC	49	A
	2030	Unity Sec Alumni	33	Jurong West Sec	36	A
	2030	Qun Yan	48	S'pore Min Chong Sports Club	35	A
Sat, 3 Jul	1600	Teck Ghee CSC	51	Qun Yan	56	A
	1600	S'pore Min Chong Sports Club	55	Jurong West Sec	67	A
	1730	Kaixuan	28	Unity Sec Alumni	38	A
	1730	Singapore Schools	82	Eng Tat Hornets	8	B
	1900	Fu Tian Dian Athletic Assn	35	T-Net @ Bt Merah	49	B
	1900	T-Net @ Bt Merah East	67	Stackers	32	B
Sun, 4 Jul	1600	T-Net @ Bt Merah	50	Singapore Schools	66	B
	1600	Stackers	21	Fu Tian Dian Athletic Assn	64	B
	1730	Eng Tat Hornets	46	T-Net @ Bt Merah East	72	B
	1730	Jurong West Sec	56	Teck Ghee CSC	40	A
	1900	Unity Sec Alumni	75	S'pore Min Chong Sports Club	42	B
	1900	Qun Yan	43	Kaixuan	22	B
Wed, 7 Jul	1900	Singapore Schools	61	Jurong West	34	Semi
	1900	Qun Yan	55	T-Net @ Bt Merah	54	Semi
Sat, 10 Jul	1600	Jurong West Sec	45	T-Net @ Bt Merah	46	3rd/4th
	1900	Singapore Schools	61	Qun Yan	54	Final

First Round Girls (19 and under) Fixtures (correct at time of posting)

DATE	TIME	TEAM	PTS	TEAM	PTS	GRP
Sat, 5 Jun	2030	Eng Tat Hornets	59	Jurong West Sec	16	A
	2030	Stackers	26	T-Net Club @ Bt Merah	58	A
Sun, 6 Jun	1000	Kg Ubi Kembangan CSC	75	The Amazons	32	B
	1000	Zhenghua YEC	28	Qun Yan	63	B
Sat, 12 Jun	2030	The Amazons	29	Zhenghua YEC	43	B
	2030	Qun Yan	52	Kg Ubi Kembangan CSC	49	B
Sun, 13 Jun	1000	Jurong West Sec	41	Stackers	43	A
	1130	T-Net Club @ Bt Merah	52	Eng Tat Hornets	44	A
Sat, 19 Jun	1600	Eng Tat Hornets	68	Stackers	32	A
	1600	T-Net Club @ Bt Merah	67	Jurong West Sec	22	A
	1730	Kg Ubi Kembangan CSC	60	Zhenghua YEC	33	B
	1720	Qun Yan	90	The Amazons	21	B
Wed, 7 Jul	2030	T-Net Club @ Bukit Merah	53	Kg Ubi Kembangan CSC	55	Semi
	2030	Qun Yan	62	Eng Tat Hornets	54	Semi
Sat, 10 Jul	1730	T-Net Club @ Bukit Merah	67	Eng Tat Hornets	55	3rd/4th
	2030	Kg Ubi Kembangan CSC	60	Qun Yan	59	Final