BASKETBALL

Youth U-14 Championships 2007 (Boys)
Catholic High School vs Hougang Secondary School
Monday, 19 November 07 at the Singapore Basketball Centre

Story by Red Sports reader Bryan Koh, a player of Catholic High.

The Catholic High C Division team won their second straight game with a 60-47 win over Hougang Secondary yesterday in the U-14 Youth Cup.

With their head coach still in Taiwan on a training tour with the B Division squad, the Catholic High team led by their assistant coach Lin Jiao Lian were still confident. The game started well for Catholic high. The first basket was scored by Shanti (#14) of Catholic High. Both team started with a 2-3 defence, a tactic that allows the opponent to make the shot with the aim of winning the rebound. But the Catholic High defence was strong enough to intercept and go on fast breaks.The quarter ended with Catholic High leading 21-6.

The defending and attacking tactics stayed the same for Catholic High despite a change of players. This time around, Herman Liao (#12) from Hougang Secondary helped the team to score 8 points. But the Catholic High 2-3 defence still held on strongly and there were few defensive loopholes. Catholic High’s accurate shooting resulted in a three-pointer and a few side shots. By half-time, Catholic High lead with a score of 40-18.

After Hougang scored a few three-pointers, Catholic High changed their defensive tactic to a 1-2-2 defence with the middle two guarding the three point sides. Again, Catholic High panicked and didn’t know what to do when Hougang changed to a full-court
man-to-man defence. Many long passes were made by Catholic High’s Bryan Koh (#6) but were intercepted by Hougang. On the other hand, Hougang used this opportunity to overtake Catholic High but to no avail. A buzzer-beating basket was made by Lee You Chen (#17) from Catholic High to end the 3rd quarter with his team leading 45-28.

In the last quarter, Hougang performed well with Toh Yi Sin (#7) scoring nine points. This time round, Catholic High seemed worn out which allowed Hougang to score a total of 19 points in that quarter. However, Catholic High still managed to beat Hougang by 13 points to win the game 60-47.

Lin Jiao Lian, the assistant coach of Catholic High said: “Although our shots were accurate, we were not boxing out when it came to rebounds which gave the opponents a chance to get the rebounds.”

Said Bryan Koh, captain of the Catholic High team: “I feel that my team played well both on defence and offence which really helped us to win this game. The team spirit is there, the tactics are there. What we should do is to act it out and play naturally. Teammate Auston Quek (#5) had many good passes and assists. Well done!”

Match statistics:

Catholic High

Total points: 60
23 shots from the field (including 1 three-pointer)
13 free-throws

Hougang Secondary

Total Points: 47
20 shots from the field (including 4 three-pointer)
3 free throws

Top scorers:

Lee You Chen (#17, Catholic High) – 14 points

Don Tang (#10, Hougang) – 13 points

Catholic High:

#4-Lennard Tong
#5-Auston Quek
#6-Bryan Koh
#7-Duncan Koh
#8-Yim Yi Xiang
#9-Edmund
#11-Aaron Pang
#12-Benny Lam
#13-Mathew
#14-Shanti
#16-Justin Lee
#17-Lee You Chen

Hougang:

#4-Tan Ting Feng
#5-Ho Zhi Yong
#6-Jason Tan
#7-Toh Yi Sin
#8-Jonathan Lee
#9-Jonathan Chua
#10-Don Tang
#11-Gordon Loy
#12-Herman Liao
#13-Benjamin Lim
#14-Yap Jinlian
#15-Ivan Lim