Story by Ian Chew. Photos by Lai Jun Wei.
Singapore Basketball Centre, Thursday, August 21, 2008 – Jurong came bravely determined to steal a win, but Anglican High’s better overall quality and strength in depth eventually prevailed to give them a 59-56 win their C Division Boys Basketball Championship semi-final game.
Anglican High’s centre Tan Jun Wei (#11) may have struggled with foul troubles throughout the game, but his lay up with less than a minute to go gave his team a crucial three point cushion. That proved to be the winning gap as Anglican High held on for a surprisingly hard fought 61-58 win.
Jurong Sec had started the game brightly, taking a 17-16 lead into the first quarter break. They continued to frustrate the more highly fancied Anglican High in the second quarter, restricting their opponents to just a one point 32-31 lead at the half.
The Anglican High bench were clearly not amused at some of the refereeing calls and protested vehemently at this stage. Key forward Sherwin Yen (#5) was slapped with his fourth personal foul just before the half time break while centre Jun Wei was consigned to the bench after collecting his fourth personal foul as well.
Despite playing without their two key players throughout the entire third quarter, Anglican High’s bench proved resilient and outscored Jurong Sec 12-8 in the third quarter to extend their lead to five points. The gap could easily have been greater had back-up centre Jeremy (#8) converted more of his lay up and free throw opportunities. He still finished the game as Anglican High’s top scorer though with 21 points.
The start of the fourth quarter saw Anglican High fielding their starting five players in a bid to press home their advantage. However, the complexion of the game soon changed when Sherwin was whistled for his fifth personal foul.
The game sprang into life as Jurong took full advantage of Anglican High’s setback to regain the lead at 48-46. Both teams traded baskets as the scores remained neck and neck. Anglican High’s Secondary one point guard Wei Qiang (#9) showed his great potential with weaving runs at the Jurong defense, scoring four of his nine points in the fourth quarter alone.
On the other hand, Jurong’s Lucas (#8), Jia Cheng (#9) and Danish (#10) were shouldering the entire scoring load for their team. They accounted for all of their team’s second half points, with forward Danish leading the way. He scored ten of his 21 points in the final quarter, but missed a crucial lay up in the final two minutes of the game which would have given his team a one-point lead. Anglican High’s Jeremy wasted no time in scoring a lay up to put his team 59-56 ahead.
Jurong still had one final chance to win the game with 28 seconds on the clock, trailing by a single point. But they were left to reflect on a badly executed play that resulted in Anglican High’s winning basket. An inbound pass by Jurong was easily intercepted for Jun Wei’s winning basket despite a long time-out called by Jurong’s coach Zhong Yousheng earlier.
That was not the end of the dramatic semi-final though. The entire Anglican High team was hurriedly ushered off the venue without the customary post game handshake in a highly unprecedented move.
They will turn up again though in the C Division national final against Unity Sec, who won the other semi final comfortably 76-47 against Raffles Institution. The highly anticipated match up between the two unbeaten teams will take place next Tuesday 26 August at Toa Payoh Sports Hall at 3.30pm.
More pictures in the gallery.
Editor’s note: If you recognise yourself or your team mates in any of the photos, feel free to leave the names behind in the comments section and we will update the captions accordingly. Thanks!
Yes thanks Lucas, appreciate it 🙂
I applaud the Coach from AHS for showing the courage in doing the right thing. I think he has made us respect AHS basketball set-up again.
I also want to applaud Lucas from Jurong Sec for showing the moral courage to stand up and let true sportsmanship prevail by moving on beyond the unfortunate episode.
I witnessed a superb final today between AHS & USS and I must say AHS fully deserved to be C Div Champion.
yo guys, i am lucas, from jurong secondary.
i am one of the players, #8.
today, the anglican high coach sincerely apologised to the whole team, so i think we can brush this thing of our minds yea?
the coach is really sincere about the apology and as a player myself i would not want to bear any grudges against any school.
so people just forget about this matter.
wow! 35 years~ -.-
a handshake doesn’t take more than a minute or so…right?
The reason behind why they left in such a hurry not because of the bus,though i seek no reason to explain.
To those who have responded to my comments:
If you have read my previous comment properly, you will notice that at no point did I blame AHS players for what happened. I was more concerned that the ADULTS (coach & teachers), the supposedly ROLE-MODELS of the school players, were instigating the move.
Any non-naive person can see that the “bus-waiting’ was really nothing but a weak attempt to justify the actions. We all know the real reasons behind. BUT, there is no way we can accept it. If you are a real sportsperson, you will know what I mean.
My tone is not friendly in my comments. That’s because I see this as a serious matter. If AHS choose to brush it off lightly, I will be disappointed.
Lastly to Regan, you got your facts wrong. I am involved in the game for the last 35 years, not 20.
where is the CCAB advisor? I think he must know everything, and he need to settle everything what was happened. i saw him on the court everyday.
First
AHS jeer at opponents when they are doing foul shots and cheer when they did not score in the east zone tournaments.
Next
They did not even bother to do a handshake after the game despite winning in the nationals.
What else can we conclude?
They need more lecturing than training
Poor sportmanship taught by the teachers and coach
They need to find back their pride..
As a fervent supporter of basketball for the past 20 years, basketBald has raised a few valid points. In response to comments like bus drivers waiting impatiently, anyone cares to time how long it takes to shake a row of opponents’ hands? 1 minute? Since when does the mood of bus drivers dictate the value of sportsmanship? You have to think of a better excuse. If that,s really the case, I daringly suggest AHS terminate the services of that bus company.
As for those childish comments from R about pissing people off, you are looking at this issue in a naive manner. I believe what many would like to see are two teams fighting their hearts off in a competitive match, ending with a sportsmanlike handshake.
If you are studying in a government school, you do represent MOE in a way. If you play sports, you do represent the sports council in a way. Of course they are related. The whole secondary basketball scene is not about AHS only. Who wins the final match is another story all together. Let common sense prevail. Sportsmanship should not be compromised.
For those irresponsible and airhead remarks that are put up in these columns, stop further putting AHS in a bad light. Refrain yourself and stick to sms in your handphones. Thank you
Maybe you think you know everything. But think again. Are you sure – everything?