Story and pictures by Leslie Tan

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Ryan Tan (#9) of RI drives through the Catholic High defence for a lay-up. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

CCAB, Friday, February 15, 2008 – Raffles Institution (RI), on the brink of elimination from the first round, stunned Catholic High 52-51 to secure their passage into the second round of the South Zone Basketball Championship.

RI’s were facing the prospect of a first round exit after they lost 44-45 to Henderson earlier in the week. This left them having to beat the formidable Catholic High team in their final group game to qualify for the second round.

The first quarter was played at a frantic pace, with both teams playing full-court pressure defence at every opportunity. RI’s defensive intensity caused Catholic High to turn over the ball a few times and when Catholic High did break through, defensive blocks by RI’s #4 and #12 particularly on Catholic High’s Jabez Su (#4) ensured that RI stepped off the court leading 12-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The answer from Catholic High came swiftly in the second quarter when they scored seven unanswered points to 15-12 up before RI scored again. With 4:15 left in the quarter, Catholic High still led 17-16 but the defending B Division champions were not allowed to pull away by RI in a quarter that was still characterised by high-tempo, full-court defensive tactics. At half-time, Catholic High held on to a slim 21-20 lead.

It was RI’s turn at the start of the third quarter to make their statement when they scored four points in a row to lead 24-21 but Jabez Su tied it up at 24-24 for Catholic High with a 3-point play when he was fouled on a lay-up. With 3:54 left in the quarter, Catholic High edged ahead 28-26 but the strain was beginning to show on their players as some of them were bent over with their hands on their knees as they tried to catch their breath during a timeout. By the end of the third quarter, RI had pulled ahead 35-31, with Wang Jia Cheng (#15) of RI making his big physical presence felt in the defensive zone as well as scoring crucial baskets to put his team ahead.

The fourth quarter saw RI pull ahead and they led by eight points at one point at 41-33. With tiredness setting in after playing at breakneck speed earlier, both teams started to open up, giving each other space to shoot open shots. Catholic High narrowed the gap with a couple of three-pointers, and RI’s lead was cut down to two points at 43-41.

With 4:25 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, RI were leading 48-45 when a fifth personal foul was called on Jonathan Cher, causing the Catholic High coach Oh Thian Soon to erupt in frustration because he believed that it was another Catholic High player and not Jonathan who had committed the foul. The umpire steadfastly refused to change her mind and Jonathan had to come off to be replaced by Sathy (#12).

With 1:49 left, RI still led 52-47 but Catholic High clawed back three points to make it a one-point deficit. With 29s left, Wang Jia Cheng (#15) drew a foul and went to the line to shoot. He missed both shots, giving Catholic High one last chance to attack and score. But try as they might, Catholic High could not score with the ball in their possession for the last 20s and when the buzzer sounded for full-time, the RI bench erupted in a mixture of joy and relief, leaving the Catholic High players to contemplate their first loss for the first time in as long as anyone could remember.

“Our coach told us to believe we could beat Catholic High today,” said RI captain Yeo Si Yuan (#8). “We had a nervous start but we made our shots count. It’s a huge boost beating Catholic High but we will take one step at a time.”

As a result of this victory, RI top their group with Catholic High second. Both teams qualified for the second round, leaving Henderson, despite having a similar 3-wins-1-loss record as RI and Catholic High, missing out on qualification by virtue of having lost to Catholic High 42-91 in an earlier group game.

Both RI and Catholic High are expected to meet again in the final of the South Zone Championship if all goes to form, and it will be a game that both supporters and neutrals will await with great anticipation.

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Sng Yi (#13) of RI shoots a jumper over the head of a Catholic High player. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
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Jonathan Cher dispatches his shot despite the attention of RI’s #6. Jonathan Cher fouled out of the game in controversial circumstances. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
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Jason Pok (#8) scored 15 points for the game to finish second behind teammate Jabez Su who scored 20 points. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Match statistics:

1st quarter: Catholic High 7 RI 12
2nd quarter: Catholic High 14 RI 8
3rd quarter: Catholic High 10 RI 15
4th quarter: Catholic High 20 RI 17

Top scorers:

Catholic High:
Jabez Su (#4) – 20 pts (2x3pt)
Jason Pok (#8) – 15 pts

RI:
Wang Jia Cheng (#15) – 20 pts
Ravins Cheung (#11) – 12 pts

If you know the names of the players mentioned, please leave them in the comments section and we’ll update the captions and story. Thanks.

More pictures in the gallery.