Story by reader Jeremy Chua

Jurong East Sports Complex, Tuesday, March 10, 2009 – New Town Secondary saw off Unity Secondary 58-56 to capture the B Division Boys West Zone Basketball Championship title this afternoon.

New Town, making their second consecutive West Zone final appearance since moving to the zone last year, had beaten Hwa Chong Institution in the semi-final to book their date against Unity in the final.

New Town lost to Jurong Secondary by two points in last year’s West Zone final and this victory will more than make up for last year’s disappointment.

Powerhouse Jurong found themselves out of even the top four when they lost to New Town and Unity in their second round ‘group of death’.

Unity won their place in the final after they saw off the challenge of River Valley High in their semi-final match.

Unity took the early lead with Fang Cie (#5) and Remus Low (#12) leading the scoring. But New Town came fighting back with captain Lor Weng Siang (#9) and their sharp shooter Lee Shi Hao (#8) leading the charge.

Unity however had enough quality to finish the first quarter ahead at 17-13, with Remus (#12) scoring a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from far behind the 3-point arc.

The second quarter saw Unity pull away as New Town started to fall apart. Weng Siang got into foul trouble but given his influence on the team, the coach kept him on court. At half-time, Unity led 35-25.

The third quarter saw a reverse in fortunes, with New Town fighting back and Unity falling apart. But the Unity team did enough to ensure that they walked off leading 48-39 at the end of the third.

New Town played a much better fourth quarter and were helped by the fact that Unity were struggling to convert most of their possession into points. Soon New Town were trailing by just three points with both sets of supporters cheering hard as the tension mounted.

With three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Weng Siang (#9) convered a basket to pull New Town into a 54-53 lead, their first lead of the match.

But the Unity #5 won a foul and went to the free throw line to score one of two free throws to even things up at 54-54 with just one minute left on the clock.

New Town then jumped back into a 56-54 lead but then Unity won a turnover through Remus (#12) who sank the basket to tie it up again, this time at 56-56.

Weng Siang (#9) was then fouled and converted both his free throws to give New Town a fresh 58-56 lead.

With time ticking away, Unity got a chance to tie the game to force overtime but they couldn’t convert their possession and ran out of time to yield the game by just two points.

Lor Weng Siang was named “Most Valuable Player” after the game.

In the earlier girls’ final, Jurong Secondary beat Nanyang Girls’ High. Michelle (#5) of Jurong was named MVP.

West Zone Top Four
B Division Girls
1st-Jurong Secondary
2nd-Nanyang Girls’ High
3rd-Unity Secondary
4th-Huayi Secondary

B Division Boys
1st-New Town Secondary
2nd-Unity Secondary
3rd-Hwa Chong Institution
4th- River Valley High