Story contributed by reader Ian Chew of Catholic High. Pictures by Les Tan and reader Marvin Lowe. Catch highlights on RedSportsTV.
Toa Payoh Sports Hall, Tuesday, April 22, 2008 – Catholic High chose the right moment to peak with a convincing 99-65 win over a previously unbeaten Jurong Secondary in the National B Division Basketball Championship final. Captain Jabez Su (#4) may have led all scorers with 32 points in the game but it was Catholic High’s point guard Dominic Lim (#10) who garnered the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award with his astute and cool control of the game.
Catholic High won 17 games and lost one on their way to the title, their sole loss coming against Raffles Institution in the second round of the South Zone Championship.
Catholic High showed their winning intent early, finishing with a sizzling 34-19 first quarter lead. Forward Wong Kam Seng (#11, CH) drove repeatedly into the paint, using his speed and height advantage to score 10 points in the opening run. Jabez also showed a sure shooting touch to add 13 points, including two from beyond the 3-point arc.
Jurong at this time were restricted to outside shooting, though Jurong’s vice-captain Soh Wei Yan (#4), Chua Wen Jie (#5) and Randy Ng (#7) were spot on from behind the 3-point line in the first quarter.
If there were any thoughts that Jurong would roll over for the rest of the match, they were quickly banished at the opening of the second quarter. Jurong’s Weiyan started their comeback efforts with a long 3-pointer, to the delight of the Jurong supporters. Their cheers had hardly died down when Randy followed with another 3-pointer of his own. Suddenly the lead was cut to 34-29 and Catholic High’s coach Raymond Oh quickly called for a time-out. The crowd was excited by now, sensing a fightback by the Jurong team.
However, the much vaunted Catholic High defense went to work after the time-out, limiting the Jurong team to a mere 8 points for the rest of the quarter. Jurong’s centre Hiew Zi Hao (#11) also crucially picked up a fourth personal foul at this early stage. (He eventually fouled out early in the third quarter.) Catholic High closed out the half with a 19-8 run to lead 53-37 at the half.
In the second half, Jurong could find no answer to the height and strength advantage of the defending champions. Catholic High centres Chong Ming Xuan (#14) and Goh Kong Tat (#12) dominated the boards and towered over the Jurong players in defense to restrict the Jurong team to a 28-point production in the final two quarters.
On the other hand, forwards Jonathan Cher (#7) and Jabez used their speed to embark on countless fast break attempts, scoring 23 points in the process. Eventually, even a determined but fast tiring Jurong could do nothing to stop Catholic High from racking up a memorable victory. Jabez then added the icing on the cake, scoring a lay up for the last basket of the game with time expiring.
A sporting Johnathan Lian (#8, JSS), obviously still hampered by an ankle injury suffered in the earlier rounds, complimented the winning team.
“They(Catholic High team) played very well.”
Notes: Despite suffering from food poisoning just the night before, Jonathan Cher put in a stupendous effort to score 8 points. However, he was thoroughly exhausted after the match… All CH team players managed to take some part in the game, though Ngo Jie Wei (#6) unfortunately sat out with a wrist injury… The starting Catholic High team would still be eligible next year as they are currently only studying in Sec 3.
Additional pictures by Marvin Lowe
TEAM SHEET
Catholic High School
Jabez Su (#4)
Sathyaselan Ayanam (#5)
Ngo Jie Wei (#6)
Jonathan Cher (#7)
Jason Pok (#8)
Lee Qi Ming (#9)
Dominic Lim (#10)
Wong Kam Seng (#11)
Goh Kong Tat (#12)
Lim Fang Yee (#13)
Chong Ming Xuan (#14)
Johncelin Khoo (#15)
Coach: Mr Raymond Oh Thian Soon
Teacher-In-Charge: Mr Ian Chew
Jurong Secondary
Soh Wei Yan (#4)
Chua Wen Jie (#5)
Yip Ann Perng (#6)
Randy Ng (#7)
Johnathan Lian (#8)
Oh Wei Jian (#9)
Clement Neo (#10)
Hiew Zi Hao (#11)
Nicholas Chan (#12)
Gary Lim (#13)
Marcus Chang (#14)
Justin Nadar (#15)
Coach: Mr Chong Yew Seng
Teacher-In-Charge: Mr Lee Kok Leong
Top scorers:
Catholic High
Jabez Su (#4) – 32 points (2×3-pointers)
Wong Kam Seng (#11) – 21 points
Chong Ming Xuan (#14) – 14 points
Goh Kong Tat (#12) – 12 points
Dominic Lim (#10) – 10 points
Jurong:
Randy Ng (#7) – 16 points (4×3-pointers)
Soh Wei Yan (#4) – 14 points (3×3-pointers)
er, JURONG’s captain is Marcus Chang(#14)
Soh WeiYan is vice-capt .
and Picture 10 is Soh WeiYan and Marcus Chang defending not Hiew ZiHao
but why last time cant?
can get mvp for lots of times . not only once. rgs’s hannah got 2 times already
You can only get MVP once only right? So that means Kam Seng cannot get right?
yay!cat high won!hip hip hooray!jss lost!