BASKETBALL

adidas It Takes 5ive Schools Basketball Championship
Friday, 3 August 2007 at CCAB

Story and pictures by Red Sports volunteer, Lai Jun Wei.

In Group A of the adidas it Takes 5ive Tournament, a remarkable team of just nine registered players are playing their hearts out to maintain their survival in the group. The girls of Yuying Secondary have a 2-1 record, having lost their last game to Bedok Green by two points with only seven players available to play. Red Sports caught up with the team to find out their story.


#13 Xuehan of Compaassvale (in red) trying to stop #7 Tang Choy Ting of Yuying. 
Yuying beat Compassvale 41-24.   © Lai Jun Wei

(RS): Your team only has 9 registered players. With such a small team, how did you all prepare for your games?
 
Yuying: Physically, we train in tough conditions. Our physical training started from 2nd Jan this year. With a small team, fitness was the key. We have displayed this throughout our whole season, including the South Zone Tournament. If the opposing team knew how to strategise, they would try to tire us out but we have also learnt how to conserve our energy. We also trained in basic footwork and shooting as our main focus all year long. With a small bench, we needed to be good in our defense and have an accurate shot.


Captain Tan Ee Ni of Yuying driving forward with the ball.   © Lai Jun Wei

RS: You won your first two games in your group and lost your third game by only two points to Bedok Green. Can you tell us how the game went against Bedok Green?

Bedok Green are a respectable team. They needed to beat us to stay in the competition. Now, they are poised to go top of the group. They will be top of the group if they beat Compassvale next week or we lose to Woodgrove.
 
Our key player was ill. We were down to four Secondary Two players. We only had seven players available. Hence, the Sec Ones needed to rise to the occasion and we did. Although skill-wise, our Sec Ones are not up there, they gave their best. We displayed the type of fighting spirit all Yuying students can be proud of. We really wanted to win but fatigue was a factor. We were trailing all the way until the 4th quarter, when we managed a six-point lead. We finally lost our lead and were down by 2. Tan Ee Ni, our team captain, took a shot but was a quarter of a second late.The final whistle blew and the shot was not counted although it went in.
 
Our team cried but we have learnt how to take the loss.


#5 Chua Wei Kiaw of Yuying tries to make a pass while #9 Jasmine Sim
of Compassvale blocks. Yuying led 18-7 at the end of the first
quarter.   © Lai Jun Wei

RS: You will play Woodgrove next. The winner goes into the quarterfinals. What do you think are your chances? And how many players are fit?
 
Woodgrove also lost to Bedok Green by quite a bit (21-35). With a full team of 8 players, we will be going for our best to qualify for the semifinals. We want all our nine players to be fit but who knows? Maybe we will be playing with only six this time. We will have to wait and see.


#9 Jasmine Sim of Compassvale tries to shoot while #6 Lai Sok Kuan of Yuying
looks on.Yuying continued scoring point after point in the next two quarters with
many of their shots finding the net. The game was very much in the Compassvale
side of the court as the Yuying players dominated play.   © Lai Jun Wei


#7 Tang Choy Ting of Yuying tries to make a shot while Compassvale’s #10 Shuyi jumps to block.
The strong Yuying defence made it very hard for the Compassvale girls to score. The rebounds were
often caught by the Yuying girls who drove back up the court to score. Yuying were also stronger on
offensive rebounds. Even though most of their first shots did not find the net, the players were often
waiting on hand to catch the rebounds to attempt another shot.   © Lai Jun Wei


Captain Tan Ee Ni of Yuying trying to dribble past #13 Xuehan of Compassvale.   © Lai Jun Wei


Compassvale’s #9 Jasmine Sim marking #9 Tan Li Ying Yuying. 
#11 Chia Pei Sze of Yuying was top scorer with 14 points for her team.
She was followed by #13 Xuehan of Compassvale who scored 13 points,
including one 3-pointer. Tan Ee Ni of Yuying also stood out with nine
points with Compassvale’s #10 Shuyi notching up seven points.   © Lai Jun Wei

Yuying:
 
#4 – Chee Xiu Zhen
#5 – Chua Wei Kiaw
#6 – Lai Sok Kuan
#7 – Tang Choy Ting(team manager)
#8 – Soh Ellis
#9 – Tan Li Ying
#10 – Joyce Teoh
#11 – Chia Pei Sze
#12 – Tan Ee Ni (Captain)

Compassvale:

#4 – Yuzhen
#5 – Sheila
#6 – Liwei
#7 – Huipeng
#8 – Huiting
#9 – Jasmine Sim
#10 – Shuyi
#11 – Huiyee
#12 – Jasmine Ng
#13 – Xuehan
#14 – Songqiu
#15 – Junting

Editor’s note: Please leave corrections in the COMMENTS section if any. Thanks. More pictures in the gallery.