Catholic High beat Jurong to march into final

BASKETBALL

National ‘C’ Division Championship 2007 Semfinal
Catholic High School vs Jurong Secondary School
Wednesday, 22 August 2007 at the Singapore Basketball Centre

Story by Ian Chew, a teacher of Catholic High. Thanks.

Defending champions Catholic High beat Jurong Secondary 63-57 to take their place in the ‘C’ Division Championship Final.

Goh Kong Tat competes for the ball. Kong Tat had a game-high 24 points for his team. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports

Catholic High’s 1.91m centre Goh Kong Tat played a key role to deny powerhouse Jurong a place in the final when he scored a game-high 24 points to lead his team to a convincing victory. Despite the fouling out of captain Jabez Su, Kong Tat scored two crucial baskets in the final two minutes of the game to secure the victory for his team. He also dominated the paint with numerous rebounds and blocked shots.

Justin Nadar of Jurong brings the ball upcourt. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports

The game started quite comfortably for the defending champions when they jumped to a 21-14 lead by the end of the first quarter. They then extended their lead to 37-22 by the end of the first half. Four out of five Catholic High players were on the scoring boards, with point guard Dominic Lim controlling the game well. Jurong’s key player Randy Ng had a strangely subdued start in the half, scoring only five of his team’s 22 points.

However, he came alive in the second half when he exploded with 16 points, 14 points coming in the fourth quarter alone. Catholic High were also living dangerously now, with both centres and forward Jabez Su carrying 4 fouls midway through the 4th quarter.

Duncan Koh of Catholic High takes control of the ball. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports

A bewildering charge call on Jabez Su during one of his fast break forays resulted in him fouling out of the game. Despite the 10-point cushion at that moment, Jurong proceeded to redouble their efforts to overturn the deficit with a full court man-to-man pressure defense. They succeeded in closing the gap to five points, but eventually time ran out for them.

Catholic High will next face Presbyterian High in the final to be played at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall at 3.30pm on Friday, 24 August. Jurong Sec will next face Anglican High in the third and fourth placing match on Thursday, 23 August.

Catholic High (17-0):

Jabez Su (#4)
Auston Quek (#5)
Bryan Koh (#6)
Duncan Koh (#7)
Johncelin Khoo (#8)
Edmund Tan (#9)
Dominic Lim (#10)
Aaron Pang (#11)
Benny Lam (#12)
Tay Ee Shen (#13)
Sathyaselan Ayanam (#14)
Goh Kong Tat (#15)

Jurong (won-loss record unknown):

Gavin Low (#4)
Lucas Lim (#5)
Manese Ross Paolo (#6)
Randy Ng (#7)
Lim Zixiang (#8)
Oh Wei Jian (#9)
Mohd Danish Han (#10)
Teo Han (#11)
Nicholas Chan (#12)
Lee Zhen Ming (#13)
Clement Neo (#14)
Justin Nadar (#15)