Story and pictures by reader Ian Chew
Anglican High School, Thursday, February 28, 2008 – Anglican High survived a fierce fourth quarter onslaught by Ngee Ann Secondary to march into the East Zone basketball final. Although Ngee Ann managed to outscore their more illustrious opponent 20-11 in the fourth quarter, they still ended up losing the semi-final by a close 65-70 scoreline.
Lanky Ruben (#11), Ngee Ann’s only Indian player on the team, starred in the final quarter by scoring most of his 11 points in the quarter and grabbing key rebounds. His teammate Tony (#9) also scored 20 points, most of them through jump shots, to keep the score close. However, Ngee Ann lacked composure during the final few minutes and spurned the opportunities that came their way.
Anglican High had used a 24-11 spurt in the second quarter to pull away from Ngee Ann after a tense 15-15 first quarter scoreline. The half time score read 39-26 in Anglican High’s favour.
By the third quarter, Anglican High had extended their lead to 59-45, thanks to some accurate shooting by Teng Rui (#4, AHS). He top scored with 21 points for his team, with teammate Teo Liang Kai (#12) contributing 18 points.
But Ngee Ann was always a threat with their bigger sized players and better rebounding. Centre Scott (#14, NAS) was key for his team in terms of scoring and rebounding. He had a creditable showing, banking in 16 points through put backs.
Sensing an upset, the Ngee Ann supporters came to life, screaming their lungs out when their team closed the gap to five points (63-68) with two minutes to go. However, it was not to be and Anglican High held on to record a 70-65 victory.
In an earlier semi-final, Chung Cheng High (Main) used a superior 38-26 final quarter showing to cruise to a 87-73 win over Dunman High.
Point Guard Colin Chou (#13, CCH) led his team with 27 points while his teammates Hong Kah Qi (#8) and Tan Ee Ruey (#9) contributed 16 and 14 points each.
Despite the easy win, the skillful guard, who was suffering from a slight fever, still paid compliments to his opponents.
“It was a tough match with Dunman High and we were glad for the win. We had to especially watch out for Dunman High’s forward Xiangyu (#7) who was a constant threat to our team with his accurate shooting.”
Xiangyu top scored for his team with 24 points, including three consecutive 3-pointers in the third quarter.
Anglican High will next meet Chung Cheng High (Main) for the East Zone final to be played on Tuesday, March 4 at Anglican High School compound at 3.20 p.m. The girls final will start on the same day at 2 p.m.
Notes: The lack of photos was due to my camera running out of battery! We welcome any photo contributions from you readers!
anglican basketball is very easy to beat just by setting strategies
Anglican NEVER cheats. PLEASE. COE for sports.
AHS didn’t cheat…AHS ‘ll prove to be in one of the top 4..u ‘ll see