Story By Zachary Foo/Red Sports. Photos by Soh Jun Wei/Red Sports

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Richard Dela Cruz (Fairfield #8) attempting a finger-roll layup while Shiek Ridwan (NV #10) attempts to block him. (Photo 1 © Soh Jun Wei/Red Sports)

Clementi Sports Hall, Monday, March 24, 2014 — North Vista Secondary (NV) defeated Fairfield Methodist School (Secondary) (FMS) 56–44 in the first round of the National B Division Boys Basketball Championship.

Sim Zhen (NV #13) led all scorers with 17 points, while Richard Dela Cruz (FMS #8) and Krison Sum (FMS #10) paced their team with 10 points apiece.

The win puts North Vista joint-top of Group B along with Bukit Panjang Government High. Both teams currently have a 1–0 win–loss record. Bukit Panjang beat New Town Secondary 49–33 in the earlier match.

North Vista found the game tough early on, getting themselves in early foul trouble. As the quarter progressed, North Vista found success feeding Shiek (NV #10) in the post. That, coupled with an effective full-court press, saw North Vista take an early six-point lead. Richard (FMS #8) and Bryan Ng (FMS #4) propped up the offence for their team, accounting for a total of eight points.

Shiek contributed significantly on the defensive end in the second quarter, making blocks at all the right moments for his team. However, North Vista did not take care of the ball on the offensive end, leading to their players committing turnovers. Fairfield capitalise on this to trim the deficit to one point.

The second half saw a vastly different North Vista team, as they started to make their shot attempts count. After a quiet first quarter, Sim Zhen (NV #13) erupted after that, reaching his game-high total of 17 points over three quarters. He was instrumental in North Vista building a 14-point lead at the end of the third quarter, chipping in five points in that period. Fairfield did not help themselves by going through a five-minute scoring drought, which Xavier Choo (FMS #10) mercifully ended with a made basket.

Fairfield’s defence improved significantly in the final quarter, allowing them to trim the lead to eight. In that span, North Vista were held to four points over eight minutes. However, as time wound down, Fairfield resorted to fouling the North Vista players to stop the clock. This allowed North Vista to put points on the board via free throws. Fairfield then attempted three-pointers in a bid to cut the lead but their attempts proved ultimately futile.

North Vista came away with the win, taking the game with a score of 56–44. They will next face Geylang Methodist Secondary on Thursday, March 24 at 2:45pm at Clementi Sports Hall. Fairfield Methodist will face Bukit Panjang on the adjacent court at the same time.

North Vista captain, Dorjee (#4), said, “It was a bad game today and we could have played better. We gave up too many rebounds and turnovers. There was a lack of energy on defence, but I was glad that we managed to win.”

Scoring by Quarter
North Vista vs Fairfield Methodist
1st Quarter: 15–9
2nd Quarter: 14–14 (29–23)
3rd Quarter: 12–4 (41–27)
4th Quarter: 15–17 (56–44)

Top Scorers
North Vista
Sim Zhen (#13) – 17 points
Shiek Ridwan (#10) – 16 points

Fairfield Methodist
Richard Dela Cruz (#8) – 10 points
Krison Sum (#12) – 10 points

North Vista Roster
Dorjee Chokka Lama (#4), Christian Co Pepito (#5), Nicholas Tay (#6), Jolo Emmanuel (#7), Fabian Low (#8), Sim Xuan (#9), Shiek Ridwan (#10), Sim Jun (#11), Lim Zhi Kang (#12), Sim Zhen (#13), Darius Ong (#14), Ng Jia Le (#15)

Fairfield Methodist Roster
Bryan Ng (#4), Andre Wong (#5), Shaun Tham (#6), Ryan Lee (#7), Richard Dela Cruz (#8), Lee Lai Quan (#9), Xavier Choo (#10), Gavin Tay (#11), Krison Sum (#12), Benedict Ng (#13), Jerome Tan (#14), Hedley Ying (#15)

2014 National B Division Basketball Championship – fixtures and results

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