B Division Basketball: 8 schools through to 2nd round after Day 10 of West Zone championship

By Les Tan/Red Sports. Photos by REDintern Xaveria Mo

Clementi Sports Hall, Friday, January 28, 2011 — Eight schools have so far confirmed their places in the second round of the West Zone B Division Boys’ Basketball Championship after 10 days of action. Four second-round places remain up for grabs.

Unity Secondary, Jurong West Secondary, Jurong Secondary, Zhenghua Secondary, Hua Yi Secondary, Hwa Chong Institution, New Town Secondary and Bukit Panjang Government High are the schools who have secured their second round place.

Of this group, Bukit Panjang, New Town, Hua Yi, Jurong and Unity won all their group games and remain undefeated. Unity are the defending West Zone and National B Division champions.

Group A
Unity beat Jurong West 62-33 in a top-of-the-table clash to secure top spot and maintain their unbeaten record at 4-0. Jurong kept it close in the first half but could not produce offensively as Unity ran away with the game in the second half. Unity outscored their group opponents 288-92, with their largest points total coming against Pioneer Secondary in a 80-19 victory.

Group B
Zhenghua secured their second round spot when they edged out Boon Lay Secondary 30-27 in a game that was close right to the final buzzer. If Zhenghua had lost, they would have allowed Fajar Secondary through. Jurong wrapped up top spot in the group with a perfect 4-0 record, outscoring their opponents in the group 319-73.

Group C
The most surprising result for observers was Hua Yi’s 34-32 defeat of HCI in their Group C game. Hua Yi are now top of this group with a perfect 4-0 win-loss record and have a final group game coming up against Juying Secondary (3-1). Even if Juying were to beat Hua Yi and finish with the same 4-1 record as HCI, HCI qualify for the second round by virtue of having defeated Juying 78-24 in an earlier Group C game.

Group D
New Town have topped Group D but there is some excitement over who will finish in second. Swiss Cottage, who are now third on the table with a 3-1 record, can secure second if they beat bottom-place Greenridge Secondary who are 0-4 and out of contention. Clementi Town Secondary, currently second in the group, have finished their group games and have a 3-2 record.

Group E
Kranji Secondary currently top Group E with a perfect 3-0 record while Commonwealth Secondary and Dunearn Secondary are both tied for second with identical 2-1 records. The fight for second favours Dunearn because they beat Commonwealth 46-30 in an earlier group encounter while Commonwealth have to play group leaders Kranji on February 11. Dunearn’s final group game on the same day is against Yuan Ching (1-2).

Group F
Bukit Panjang Government High wrapped up top spot in Group F with a perfect 5-0 record, with Chua Chu Kang Secondary providing them the stiffest resistance in a 44-33 win. Bukit Panjang had larger wins against Tanglin Secondary (83-23), Bukit Batok Secondary (53-30), Nan Hua High (60-35) and Teck Whye Secondary (65-37).

The fight for second place is now between Bukit Batok and Nan Hua High, with both teams having identical 3-1 records. Both teams will play each other in a winner-take-all clash on February 11.

The draw for the second round of the West Zone championship will take place at 5pm on February 11 after the conclusion of all group games.

West Zone Group Standings

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