“I wished that the game would end soon…” – an interview with the Unity basketball team (Part 2)

By Lai Jun Wei.

The Unity Secondary basketball team was started in 2000 under the eyes of then principal Mr N. Satianathan. Since then, it has evolved into a formidable team at both the zonal and national levels.

This year, the C Division Girls team overcame all odds to emerge as champions in the C Division Girls National Basketball Championship. Like many other teams, Unity comprises of people from different backgrounds that came together to work towards their common goal - to become champions.

The final game

After beating the Singapore Chinese Girls' School in a thrilling semi-final, Unity were up against Dunman Secondary in the National final, a team which they had beat in the quarter-finals. Having won 47-34 in their previous meeting, hopes for the team were quite high.

But there was always the chance that Dunman would suddenly perform at their peak and outshine Unity. "I wanted to play well (at the final) and contribute more to the team as I wanted to makeup for the mistakes I made during the SCGS match," said Janice.

Prior to this match, the team sat through pep-talks and analysed Dunman Secondary's strength and weakness together. The teachers also gave support by teaching the players to cope with their emotions during the final.

In the opening moments, Dunman took the first shot of the game with a three-pointer. "I was constantly hoping that we would not let them score but pull ahead instead," said Pamela. Trailing 0-3, Siti promptly equalised with a three-pointer. "I felt proud? I'm not too sure either. But it boosted my confidence," said Siti on scoring that 3-pointer.

They played a three-quarter court press, and harassed Dunman into mistakes and turnovers. They took the lead at 5-4 and led all the way to the end of the first quarter. By the end of the third quarter, victory was almost in the bag as Unity was already leading 45-24. A last ditch effort by Dunman in the last quarter failed to upset the unbeaten team.

Knowing victory was soon to be theirs, Jessie recounted, "My heart was pounding fast and I felt very excited." Janice echoed her sentiments. "I wished that the game would end soon as I did not want Dunman to catch up." But like all great athletes, the sense of complacency never set in. Many of them had similar attitudes in fighting to the very end. "Though it seemed like we were going to win, we should still fight for the ball and make the gap bigger," said Pamela. Elsa added by saying, "We still did not give up and kept putting in more points."

On the court, Diane Seow (Forward, Sec 1) felt great at her team's performance. "I was very happy because my teammates did not show over confidence, but instead fought all the way to the end of the match."

When Ramona was named MVP of the season, her initial reaction was of shock. "I did not expect to receive this award. I felt that I might not have played really well compared to my other teammates. I expected either Li Jun or my team captain Siti to win as they played much better than me."

But Siti certainly felt that Ramona truly deserved the award. "I felt happy for her as she has improved a lot since she first started playing in primary school. Playing with her has been lots of fun. I got my MVP award for the West Zone so it’s time another teammate got hers.”

It’s already anf achievement for me that I played four quarters straight without being substituted out. So I feel proud for that. Getting the MVP award during the national final is something I dreamed of but I'm not disappointed, because Ramona deserves it too!"

We are the Champions!

As the final buzzer sounded, everyone broke into celebration. With hugs all around and cheers from the supporters, their mission was achieved. "I felt proud and honoured. The hard work put in for trainings were not wasted," said Noor Mazrianawhayu (Forward, Sec 1), or known as Riana to her team mates. "The days that passed were really exhausting. It was tough for the whole season. The time we spent for trainings, the times that we had to skip lessons to attend matches all paid off.

It's because we won," said Ramona after the team overcame the last hurdle. "We had tears of joy at the last match when we won and when we celebrated as champions. It was the last time we played together before the Sec 2s move on to the B Division next year."

This was one memorable moment for Pamela as the whole team cried together. "It was our last match in the Nationals. We really bonded during this season. We had additional trainings outside on top of team talks. We even ate together during recess time. I will miss the times that we had together, playing and training really hard. The next time we will play together will only be in two years time when I move to secondary three. I will definitely miss them when they are promoted to the B Division next year," she said.

It was a massive celebration as the team was treated to a good meal after the match. Having their meal, they shared with each other about the things that they had gone through. They had a team talk to voice out anything they had been uncomfortable with and find areas of improvement for future matches.

Back in school, a half-day holiday was declared in appreciation of this achievement. Not only that, a trip to Beijing will be organised for the team towards the end of this year where they would play a few matches with a local Chinese school. "The rest of the time, go walk walk (sic) to Great Wall of China and have fun!" Siti quipped.

Of course, we cannot forget that the coach can make or break a team. Everyone unanimously credited the win to their coach Mr Ng. Li Jun shared, "He put in a lot of effort in teaching us. He’s just like a father to us." Jessie said, “Without my coach, there won't be me today. I would not have progressed to who I am now.”

Related stories:
Part 1: “Trainings are tough, but they are fun too!”
Part 3 – “It’s mind over matter. If you can overcome the negative thoughts and think positively, you’ll succeed."
Ramona Wong – C Girls Basketball MVP