Story by Chan Hui Mui/Red Sports. Pictures by Leslie Tan/Red Sports

b division west zone netball

The River Valley WA Felicia anticipates a pass. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Jurong East Sports Hall, Wednesday, March 10, 2011 — River Valley High beat Nan Hua High 41-40 after extra-time in the final of West Zone B Division Netball Championship.

Nan Hua sent their supporters into a frenzy when they levelled the game at 32-32 just before the final whistle. Trailing 40-41 with 10 seconds left in extra-time, Nan Hua could not force the game into a sudden death (where the team that scores the first two goals wins the game) when they rushed their play and failed to score from their own centre pass.

This was Nan Hua’s fourth consecutive second-place finish in the West Zone.

In the opening quarter, River Valley committed several unforced errors to give Nan Hua a 7-4 lead, before they tidied up their play to narrow the deficit to one point (8-9) However, River Valley High failed to score from their last centre pass of the quarter to level the game.

Tight defense from River Valley saw them steal the lead at 14-13 in the fifth minute of second quarter. However, their effort were undone by their feeders when they sent poor passes to their shooters. By half-time, Nan Hua took back the lead at 19-18.

River Valley’s strong defense was their advantage as their defenders continued to provide several turnovers. However, the attackers once again let their defenders down by sending inaccurate passes to their shooter that were intercepted. This allowed Nan Hua extended the lead to three points at 25-22 during the third quarter.

River Valley then slowed down their pace to break Nan Hua’s defending momentum and scored three consecutive goals to level the game 25-all at the end of the third quarter.

River Valley could not sustain their performance in the fourth quarter and allowed Nan Hua a two-point lead at 29-27. This was as far as Nan Hua could go in the final quarter. A 5-1 scoring run gave River Valley an important two-point 32-30 lead with a couple of minutes left on the clock.

However, some costly River Valley unforced errors gifted Nan Hua a crucial turnover and they scored from their centre pass to level at 32-all and push the game into extra time.

In the extra-time period, both time were cautious with their play while exchanging goals. At half-time, Nan Hua lead by one goal (36-35).

In the second half, both teams committed little mistakes and scored from almost all their centre passes. However, Nan Hua made a most costly unforced error when a long and inaccurate pass from the centre third with River Valley leading 41-40 and only 10 seconds left on the clock. That misplaced pass sent the ball out of the court and handed River Valley the championship title.

Nan Hua’s coach, Bok, commented about his girls’ performance: “They threw away the game. They have made too many unforced errors. I do not think they will make it to national top 4, top 8 maybe.”

“It was a nerve wrecking game. We have a nervous breakdown during the last quarter,” said the River Valley captain Eng Peilynn. “However, we just told ourselves to take one step at a time and play at our comfortable pace as we knew whoever made the least mistakes will win the game.

Looking forward to the nationals, she added: “Singapore Sports School and CHIJ (Toa Payoh) Secondary are our strongest opponents. We hope to achieve top 4 in national.”

In the third and fourth placing match, Nanyang Girls’ High narrowly beat Clementi Town Secondary 25-21.

Match Statistics
River Valley 41 Nan Hua 40
1st Q: 8-9
2nd Q: 10-10 (18-19)
3rd Q: 7-6 (25-25)
4th Q: 7-7 (32-32)
Extra Time: 9-8
Final Score: 41-40

Nanyang 25 Clementi Town 21
1st Q: 8-3
2nd Q: 6-3 (14-6)
3rd Q: 6-7 (20-13)
4th Q: 5-8 (25-21)

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