Contributed by Teo Siang Yang
CCAB, Tuesday, December 2, 2008 – The 16-team Yuying Basketball League 1 got underway yesterday after an earlier round threw up the four strongest teams from League 2.
Hwa Chong Institution and Queensway Secondary came through the 13-team League 2 for boys to win a place in the first-tier League 1. HCI emerged first while Queensway were runners-up.
In the girls’ League 2, Yishun Town Secondary finished first while Bedok View Secondary were second to ensure their places in League 1 of the girls category.
In League 1, held from December 1st to 15th, 8 boys and 8 girls teams are playing in a round-robin format.
The boys teams are Seng Kang Sec, Queensway Sec, Woodlands Ring Sec, Queenstown Sec, Yuying Sec, Unity Sec, Jurong West Sec, Hwa Chong Institution.
The girls teams are Yuying Sec, Unity Sec, Anderson Sec, Yishun Town Sec, Zhong Hua Sec, Queensway Sec, Jurong West Sec and Nan Chiau High.
All games are being played at the indoor courts of the Co-Curricular Activities Branch (CCAB) at Evans Road.
On the first day of the League 1 competition, Woodlands Ring amd Seng Kang played a tight first half. Soon, fatigue set in for Woodlands Ring as they lost control of the game in the 4th quarter and Seng Kang dominated the boards. Seng Kang finally beat Woodlands Ring 59-39.
The other game saw the girls from Anderson and Zhong Hua pitting their skills against each other. Both teams had slow starts as the score was kept low in the first half.
The tempo picked up in the second half with the tough Zhong Hua defence ensuring a 41-21 win for themselves.
There were a total of 10 games played today, the second day of competition. All teams were on court playing and the vibrancy on the courts can be felt.
Favourites Unity got off to a flying start with their boys team playing with host Yuying and League 2 runners up Queensway. Despite having to play 2 games, the Unity boys beat their opponents by an average of 22 points.
The Unity girls beat North Zone powerhouse Anderson with 65-34.
Hosts Yuying had a mixed day. The girls were strong against Nan Chiau with good defence and strong finishes to come off 42-19 winners. The Yuying boys were given a good lesson in sharp shooting by Unity and now looks forward to tomorrow’s game against Woodlands Ring.
Zhong Hua girls continued their winning streak by beating League 2 Champions Yishun Town while the Jurong West girls won their first game against Queensway 56-22.
The boys from Woodlands Ring had a field day by beating South Zone fourth-place finisher Queenstown and Jurong West. Seng Kang made it two wins in a row by beating Queenstown 50-32.
It is going to be another round of nail-biting fixtures tomorrow with all the girls teams in action. There is a tough boys match between Woodlands Ring and Yuying and a potential thriller between the boys of Queensway and Jurong West.
Pre-Season B Division Basketball League 1 Results
Boys
Unity 56 Queensway 33
Wooodlands Ring 36 Queenstown 18
Hwa Chong 54 Jurong West 49
Unity 72 Yuying 50
Woodlands Ring 54 Jurong West 29
Seng Kang 50 Queenstown 32
Girls
Zhong Hua 43 Yishun Town 26
Yuying 42 Nan Chiau 19
Unity 65 Anderson 34
Jurong West 56 Queensway 22
but sengkang is short of one defensive centre who makes a difference. But with the current squad they`ll still go far but they`re lack qualities in the bench, quite badly. it`s only the main few who made up of this yr`s national 3rd`s team whom are more capable of playing.
althought sengkang once beat unity this year during nationals, but sengkang now only depends on a few players. Their bench players are not good. Unity have lotsa potential players. So i think unity wil get first, sengkang 2nd