Unity Secondary cruise past Jurong in C Division boys quarter-finals

Story by REDintern Wong Hong Yong. Photos by REDintern Kenneth Chia.

Jurong #5 tries to dribble past Unity #10 Gaddiel See. (Photo 1 © Kenneth Chia/Red Sports)

Singapore Basketball Centre, Wednesday, August 13, 2008 – It was supposed to be a tight encounter with Jurong Secondary looking to sneak a win against favourites Unity Secondary. Things certainly looked so in the early stages but Unity were in unstoppable form late in the game and eventually thrashed Jurong 64-34 thrashing in a C Division boys Basketball Championship quarter-final match.

Unity started the game rather strongly, keeping their shape and discipline in both their attack and defense. They made sure that the Jurong players were not given any space to pass or shoot. Facing much hindrance, the Jurong players could only try long-range shots as they found it increasingly difficult to penetrate into the paint for a lay-up.

Unity on the other hand, were asserting themselves on the smaller-sized Jurong players. Their towering centers would often be in Jurong’s paint area, snatching multiple rebounds. The first quarter ended with Unity leading 24-11.

The second quarter was however a totally different story. The Jurong players came back like men on a mission. They held their own against the larger-sized Unity players, and pressured their opponents into making long range shots. These were largely inaccurate, causing Unity to lose many opportunities to put points on the scoreboard.

The Jurong players also made sure that their opponents would not have any chance for a breather or to regroup for an offensive attack. Used their superior speed as an advantage, they pressed their bigger counterparts on the turnovers. Jurong managed to deny Unity any chance to score points for the first four and a half minutes, scoring five points themselves. This frustrated the Unity coach, who called for a time out at the 3:36-minute mark. The quarter ended with Unity leading 30-18, with each side only managing to score six points each.

Jurong continued where they left off in the second quarter and stepped up their pressure. However, Unity started to find their attacking form as their centres #7 and #14 started to pick up the play. They forced the Jurong players back into their defensive half while the rest of the Unity team started a scoring run which produced 14 points in a short duration of time.

Unity only allowed their opponents to score three points to extend their lead even further. They never looked back as the gap steadily increased. By the end of the third quarter, Unity led by a whopping 50-25.

The fourth and final quarter was more of the same. Unity centres #8 and #15 dominated their opponents, blocking every pass, shot or anything Jurong was able to muster up. Jurong began to lose their formation, and were increasingly becoming frustrated that their attacking forays were rendered useless.

Unity #8 and #15 continued to assert themselves and began to find space in Jurong’s messy defense formation to power their way in for lay-ups, drawing multiple fouls. Jurong’s only bright spark was #6, who was spirited and kept on using his superior speed to get into any open spaces or to the long passes. However, he was often denied by the towering presence of the Unity players.

Jurong ended the game with a four to nothing scoring run but all was too late as they lost the match to the impressive Unity team by a massive 30 points. Final score: 64-34.

Captain Remus Low of Unity drives down the flank while his Jurong opponent tries to keep up. (Photo 2 © Kenneth Chia/Red Sports)

Editor’s note: If you recognise yourself or your team mates in any of the photos, feel free to leave the names behind in the comments section and we will update the captions accordingly. Thanks!