Unity beat Dunman 63-49 to win C Division Girls Basketball Championship Final

Story and pictures by Les Tan

Siti Amnah of Unity (in white) tries to strip the ball away from Nurrahshikin of Dunman. Siti was Unity’s top scorer with 14 points, including two 3-pointers. (Photo 1 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Toa Payoh Sports Hall, Tuesday, August 26, 2008 – Unity Secondary beat Dunman Secondary 63-49 to capture the C Division Girls Basketball Championship title this afternoon.

Unity effectively shut down Dunman’s attack with their harassing presses from the start and never allowed their opponents to find any shooting or passing rhythm. Playing in a national final in front of so spectators many also contributed to jitters and Dunman committed many unforced errors with many passes never finding their intended recipients.

As a result, Dunman went for long stretches without scoring and by the end of the third quarter, their opponents had a commanding 21-point lead. In the fourth quarter, Unity hit a game-high 23-point lead but Dunman came alive in the last six minutes of the game to score 25 points in the quarter. But the Unity lead was insurmountable by then.

Red Sports provided “live” quarter-by-quarter updates of the game. Check it out to for more details.

Match statistics:
1st quarter: Unity 18 Dunman 9
2nd quarter: 9-9
3rd quarter: 18-6
4th quarter: 18-25

Top scorers:
Unity
Siti Amnah Bte Senen (#6): 14 points (2×3-pointers)
Wong Wei Xuan (#15): 11 points
Au Li Jun (#14): 10 points

Dunman
Nurrahshikin Bte Mohd Abdul Rahman (#4): 18 points (1×3-pointer)
Izzati Syukrina Bte Kahirul Anuar (#9) – 8 points

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Live update by Les Tan

4th quarter summary:

Any thoughts of a Dunman comeback faded quickly in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter with Unity shutting down Dunman. Unity scored 10 unanswered points to lead 55-34. Dunman didn’t put any points on the board until almost four minutes had gone by through Stephanie Ng (#12) to spark a Dunman run which eventually saw them score 25 points in the quarter and give Unity a slight scare.

With three minutes to go in the quarter, Unity built up an unassailable 23-point lead at 63-40. Six unanswered Dunman points to make it 46-63 was enough to force Unity to call a timeout with 1:59 on the clock. Unity shooting went cold and they didn’t put another point on the board but they had done enough. Even though Dunman scored three more points without reply, the final buzzer sounded on a 63-49 victory and a new C Division champion: Unity Secondary School.

3rd quarter summary:

Unity walked all over Dunman in this quarter. It took Dunman just over four minutes to start scoring through a jumper by Rabiatul Adawiyah Bte Mohd Rafi (#15). Unity walked off leading 45-24 at the end of the third.

2nd quarter summary:

A 13-point performance in the second quarter saw Unity take a 27-18 lead at half-time. Their continued aggressive three-quarter court defence gave Dunman constant problems. Dunman struggled just to get the ball out of their half, never mind getting into shooting range. Harried for time, Dunman gave up turnover after turnover. Unity looked good for the win with their ability to shoot under pressure.

1st quarter summary:

Unity Secondary led Dunman Secondary 14-9 at the end of the first quarter. Playing a three-quarter court press, the Unity team harassed Dunman into mistakes and turnovers with their aggressiveness. Trailing 0-3 at the start, Unity got going with a 3-pointer by Siti Amna Bte Senen (#6) to get back on even terms. They took the lead at 5-4 and led all the way to the end of the first quarter.

Nurrahshikin of Unity (in red) looks for a way around Wong Wei Xuan of Unity. (Photo 2 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Rabiatul of Dunman (in red) tussles for the ball with Wei Xuan of Unity. (Photo 3 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Janice Ong of Unity (in white) looks for an open teammate while Jowilly Siew of Dunman defends. (Photo 4 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Janice Ong of Unity breaks through the Dunman defence for two. (Photo 5 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Siti Amnah Bte Senen of Unity got the scoring going for her team with a 3-pointer in the first quarter. (Photo 6 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Jessie Foo shoots from the free-throw line. (Photo 7 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Nurrahshikin of Dunman goes for a layup. She scored a game-high 18 points, including one 3-pointer. (Photo 8 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

At the final buzzer, Unity celebrate… (Photo 9 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

…with hugs all around. (Photo 10. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)