Unity Secondary hold off persistent North Vista in C Division Basketball

Contributed by reader Kelwin Koh.

Clementi Sports Hall, Monday, July 20, 2009 – Unity Secondary beat North Vista 51-34 in the C Division Boys Basketball National preliminaries to progress into the next round.

North Vista showed no fear from the tip off. Possibly due to their previous win against Catholic High, they were looking for yet another upset of a powerhouse and launch the revival of North Vista's proud history albeit under a slightly different name (North Vista inherited basketball powerhouse Thomson Secondary's Chinese name).

Playing aggressive defense, North Vista managed to hold Unity to a stalemate, with the score only 1-0 to North Vista over three minutes into the first quarter. Unity played a scrappy offense with numerous blown chances by their forwards. However, their trademark defensive intensity served to put the brakes on North Vista's attempts to make a basket.

North Vista's offense was sparked primarily by their forward #11, who showed a complete game with fearless drives to the hoop bundled with an array of outside shots. However, his inability to finish his plays also meant that Unity held onto a slim lead by the end of the first quarter.

Stellar low-post defence by Unity’s centre, Delvin (#14), calmed down his teammates and they soon found their footing. Sensing the momentum of the game slacking, Unity coach made a gutsy call by substituting his two tiny guards Alvin (#5) and Zhung Kiat (#10) from the bench in an attempt to push the tempo of the game. They did not let him down and scored on a succession of quick steals and layups.

North Vista's over-reliance on their #11 for an offense proved to be their undoing as he could find no way past the long arms of Delvin (Unity, #14). Finally, the North Vista #11 resorted to taking long three-point shots from beyond the arc to avoid the smoldering Unity defence. Unfortunately, his shots were off due to his inability to get any rhythm earlier in the game.

Unity went into the third quarter break with a 35-26 lead.

North Vista's #11 had another issue that was exploited repeatedly by Unity’s defence in the final stretch – His preference to drive to the right. Denying him the position effectively took a chunk of his offence away from him.

The final quarter saw the reinsertion of Unity #8 who had been playing well in the second quarter but taken out after amassing four fouls. Unity #14 started showing signs of fatigue, often bending over to catch his breath though there wasn’t any comfortable double-digit lead.

Unity's coach knew better than to take his defensive rock out of the game. Sensing that the end of the game was near, Unity #14 mustered his strength for a final burst with successive post plays that would not look out of place in a Division 1 match.

He ended the game with a pair of blocked shots on North Vista's #11, effectively laying David's dream of slaying another Goliath to rest.

With the win, Unity have qualified for the next round but their next match could prove to be their most trying thus far this season, facing a Catholic high team that has to win to stay alive.