BASKETBALL

National ‘C’ Division Championship 2007 Quarterfinals
Presbyterian High School vs Jurong Secondary
Friday, 17 August 2007 at the Singapore Basketball Centre
Pictures by Leslie Tan. © Red Sports/soulbreath pictures. Story by Red Sports reader, Ian Chew. Thanks.

The struggle for basketball supremacy among the ‘C’ Division boys heated up yesterday at the Singapore Basketball Centre when the two unbeaten teams, Presbyterian High and Jurong, went head-to-head. Presbyterian High emerged 44-29 winners in this highly-anticipated matchup to give themselves a more favourable draw in the semifinals.

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Russel Low (#5) of Presbyterian High out jumps Clement Neo (left) and Paolo to shoot a basket. Difficult to defend against, Russel scored a team-high 16 points. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports

A strange thing happened in the game as both teams came attired in white. It turned out that the Jurong had brought the wrong set of jerseys! The ensuing attempts to get the correct set of jerseys seemed to have affected the Jurong players as they seemed less sharp than usual in the opening minutes. Point guard Oh Wei Jian (#9) of Jurong failed to convert an open lay up.

Presbyterian High were also having problems of their own at the start. Forward Goh Yao Ming (#8) also missed a layup at the start of the game. Both teams appeared jittery and the game was surprisingly scoreless for the first four minutes until Randy Ng (#7) of Jurong opened the scoring with a layup.

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Justin Nadar of Jurong (in red) goes for two while Russel and his teammate block. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports

However, centre Russel Low (#5) showed how key a player he was for Presbyterian High when he scored three consecutive baskets in reply. The first quarter ended 12-5 in favour of Presbyterian High.

The second quarter was similarly a low-scoring affair. Jurong failed to cope with the superior height of Presbyterian High and were restricted in their scoring. Free throw woes also plagued the Jurong players as they struggled to convert their foul shots. They scored only three points in the second quarter to trail 8-18 at the half. At this point, the score seemed more like a rugby game than a basketball game!

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Oh Wei Jian (#9) of Jurong is surrounded by Presbyterian High players as he shoots for the basket. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports

After the half-time break, the game barely budged as the two team cancelled each other out with their oppressive man-to-man defense. Both teams scored six points in the third quarter for Presbyterian High to lead 24-14.

In the fourth and final quarter, the game opened up as both teams ran the fast breaks better. It was Presbyterian High which benefited more as their players scored 20 points in the the last period to win the game 44-29 and top the group. Russel Low (#5) top scored for Presbyterian High with 16 points with teammate Goh Yao Ming (#8) adding 11 points and Tan Jiahui (#13) adding 10 points. Randy Ng (#7) scored a team-high 10 points for Jurong. They will now await the outcome of the game between Catholic High and Anglican High to know their opponents in the semifinals.

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Randy Ng of Jurong drives through for an under-the-basket attempt. He scored a team-high 10 points. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports

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)

Presbyterian High (16-0):

Simon Low (#4)
Russel Low (#5)
Timothy Ho (#6)
Jonathan Haryono (#7)
Goh Yao Ming (#8)
Ng Jun Jie (#9)
Lionel Tan (#10)
Lim Wei Chieh (#11)
Koh Zhe Quan (#12)
Tan Jiahui (#13)
Andrew Wong (#14)
Ivan Yeo (#15)

Top scorers:

Presbyterian High: Russel Low (16 pts)
Jurong: Randy Ng (10 pts)

Editor’s note: Please leave all updates and corrections in the COMMENTS section. More pictures in the gallery.