Unity Secondary sweep T-Net Club basketball tournament

Contributed by Goh Bee Leng

Singapore Basketball Centre, Sunday, December 6, 2009 – It was a red letter day for Unity Secondary School, as they completed a clean sweep of all the titles at the T-Net Club U-13 and U-16 Boys and Girls Basketball Tournament.

The match of the day was undoubtedly the U-16 Girls Final, where Zhonghua Secondary School faced up to Unity Secondary School.

After falling behind early in the game, the girls from Zhonghua showed good spirit to catch up and steal the lead in the third quarter. A flurry of 3-pointers from both sides kept the scores close, and the lead changed hands more often than could be counted.

With less than 15 seconds remaining and the scores still tied, Zhonghua had the ball and a chance at glory. Instead, disaster struck as they missed their shot, and most of their players watched helplessly as Unity raced down the court for a fastbreak. The Zhonghua guards managed to get back in the nick of time and apply enough pressure to force Unity into a miss. But then their faces turned to disbelief.

There was some initial confusion as Unity seemed to miss their shot, before the referees called a belated defensive foul on Zhonghua. It was a nail biting finale, as Unity were gifted two free throws. Everyone held their breath as Pearlyn Chung Jia Jia took her place on the free throw line.

She missed her first shot, which caused the Unity crowd to groan, but managed to keep her composure to sink the second shot for the final and winning point to wrap up the game 48-47. The Unity bench celebrated with delight while the Zhonghua bench buried their heads at the lost opportunity.

The U-13 Boys and Girls was a match-up between Seng Kang Secondary and Unity. Both matches were dominated by the rampaging Unity teams. Despite being undersized, the Unity juniors (both Boys and Girls) were able to use their speed to gain an advantage. The result was a rather lop-sided score line with Unity winning 64-33 in the U-13 Girls Final and 89-41 in the U-13 Boys Final.

The U-16 Boys Final was another match in which Unity dominated the proceedings from start to finish. Their size, movement and shooting were streets ahead of their opponents from East View Secondary School, and the result was a foregone conclusion by the end of the first half. Even then, the boys from Unity did not let up, and they continued to play hard till the final whistle to win 82-34.

Amidst the competitive nature of the finals, there was time for some personal glory as players competed for the Free-throw Accuracy (for U-13 Category) and the 3-Point Shootout (for U-16 Category) awards.

Final Standings

U-13 Girls

Champions - Unity Secondary School
1st Runner Up - Sengkang Secondary School
2nd Runner Up - Singpore Chinese Girls School
3rd Runner Up - Jurong West Secondary School

U-13 Boys

Champions - Unity Secondary School
1st Runner Up - Sengkang Secondary School
2nd Runner Up - De Yi Secondary School
3rd Runner Up - Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School

U-16 Girls

Champions - Unity Secondary School
1st Runner Up - Zhong Hua Secondary School
2nd Runner Up - Kranji Secondary School
3rd Runner Up - Queensway Secondary School

U-16 Boys

Champions - Unity Secondary School
1st Runner Up - East View Secondary School
2nd Runner Up - Yu Ying Secondary School
3rd Runner Up - Sengkang Secondary School

U-13 Free-Throw Shoot Out

Girls Winner - Kong Wai Yee, Singapore Chinese Girls’ School
Boys Winner - Tui Xi Beng

U-16 3-Point Shoot Out

Girls Winner - Ng Su Wei, Jurong West Secondary School
Boys Winner - See Seng Yang, Macpherson Secondary School

Best Team Awards

U-13 Best Team - Jurong West Secondary School
U-16 Best Team - Zhonghua Secondary School

Most Valuable Player Awards

U-16 Girls - Olivia Lee, Unity Secondary School
U-16 Boys - Lin Fang Cie, Unity Secondary School