Queensway through to B Division basketball quarter-finals with Anglican High as North Vista come up just short

Story by reader Erwin Wong. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports.

Jurong West Sports Complex, Friday, April 3, 2009 - The final whistle had already sounded for their match, and immediately the Queensway Secondary B Division basketball boys trooped from their court to the adjacent one, where an exciting finale was unfolding.

Queensway, needing a win against River Valley High in their final Group A match to give themselves any chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals, already saw to that part of the deal by consigning their opponents to a 68-53 defeat, their third consecutive one.

The slight glitch to their grand plan of advancement was that Anglican High and North Vista were playing out a close game with both teams trading leads all throughout the match. By virtue of a huge point differential of +47, Anglican High would advance regardless of the result of their match, barring a spectacular loss. If they won, Queensway would go through together with them. If North Vista did, then all 3 teams would be tied on 5 points, and Queensway would miss the boat on the basis of an inferior point difference.

"Watching the final moments of the Anglican High-North Vista match as our fate hung in the balance was more stressful than playing in our own match!" exclaimed Queensway vice-captain Jeremy Ng.

Their match was a straightforward one. Queensway controlled the game right from the tip-off and were led by the excellent triple-threat of Jeremy, Jiajun and Johann. The three Js combined for an incredible 66 of their team's 68 total points and they came from a variety ranging from Jeremy's long range and running jumpers, Jiajun's offensive rebounding and points in the paint, as well as Johann's drives down the lane. They raced out to a 17-4 lead midway through the first quarter before Li Kai and Choon Zhuan brought River Valley to within 7. But they wasted 4 consecutive attempts from the free-throw line, as Queensway settled for a 17-10 first quarter lead.

That advantage was slashed to only three as Li Kai, Choon Zhuan and Darren Yang contributed to an 8-0 River Valley rally, but Jiajun put the brakes on their comeback trail by twice converting his own missed shot on his way to 7 unanswered points, and River Valley never threatened from then on.

Despite healthy leads in the second half, the Queensway faithful wore concerned looks on their faces as North Vista led 30-25 at half time and 48-43 after three quarters on the other court.

The Queensway players, though, concentrated on the task at hand. When You Xiang made back-to-back layups to bring River Valley to within six in the final period, Johann fuelled a game-closing Queensway run with five of his nine fourth quarter points, part of a game-high 27.

The final whistle sounded just about the same time as a foul was called in the adjacent court. North Vista's Larry Liew would be sent to the free throw line for three attempts, with his team trailing 55-60 with 3:18 to play.

After a time out, Larry steeled himself to calmly convert all three, bringing his team to within two. Anglican High then allowed three more free throws as well as a basket from Larry, and they now trailed 60-63. Tension reached fever pitch as Anglican High dug deep, rolled up their sleeves and grinded out key shot after key shot. An 8-0 run soothed the nerves of their schoolmates - as well as Queensway's - but North Vista would not go away quietly, cutting the AHS lead to 68-67 with 40 seconds to play.

An AHS basket by #5 – who had a 38-point outing – plus the foul gave them a chance to make it a two-possession game, but the missed free throw meant North Vista had the ball, trailing 67-70 but with a chance to tie the game on the final shot.

However, clutch shooter Larry, who led his team with 37 points and 5 treys, could not convert the crucial 6th as North Vista missed five consecutive shot attempts which were well-contested by the Anglican High defence. North Vista, having lost their two matches by a combined five points, will be left wondering what it might have been, while Anglican High and Queensway go into the quarter-final draw on Wednesday, 8 April at 1715 hrs.

Queensway lineup
#4 Shawn Lee
#5 Jeremy Ng
#6 Mike Tan
#7 Ernest Loh
#8 Samuel Wee
#9 Jiaying
#10 Jia Jun
#11 Nelson
#12 Johann
#13 Jun Long
#14 Samuel Koh
#15 Yuhao

River Valley lineup
#4 Choon Zhuan
#5 You Xiang
#6 Joshua
#7 Tan Jia Jun
#8 Li Kai
#9 Bi Hao
#10 Zi Lie
#11 Yi Thong
#12 Darren Yang
#13 Chee How
#14 Nicky
#15 Xu Meng

Scoring breakdown by quarter
Queensway v River Valley

1st Q: 17-10
2nd Q: 15-12
3rd Q: 15-16
4th Q: 21-15
Final: 68-53

Leading scorers
Johann (Queensway) 27 points
Jiajun (Queensway) 23 points
Jeremy (Queensway) 16 points
Xu Meng (River Valley) 12 points