Story by REDintern Zachary Foo
Jerome Lee (#14) of Fairfield goes up for two. Fairfield broke through this year by finishing top of the South Zone. (Photo 4 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Clementi Sports Hall, Tuesday, August 6, 2013 — Fairfield Methodist School sealed an emphatic 65–48 win over Peicai Secondary to clinch the South Zone C Division Boys’ Basketball Championship. The result was made all the more sweeter as Fairfield recently celebrated its 125th anniversary.
In the match for third and fourth place, Raffles Institution overcame Catholic High 50–48 in an extremely tight battle.
We recap the zone standings as well as taking a look at the prospects of each team at Nationals.
As a primer, we recap the format of the National rounds. The first 16 teams will be sorted into four groups in Round 1 and will play in a round-robin format. The top two will qualify for the next round.
Round 2 also consists of two groups of four teams in a round-robin format, where the top two teams will then qualify for the semi-finals. From then, teams play in a knock-out format until the final.
Boys
Final Standings
Champions — Fairfield Methodist School
Runners-up — Peicai Secondary
3rd — Raffles Institution
4th — Catholic High
Boys
Catholic High
Catholic High are the defending national C Division champions. In 2012, they qualified second in their group in both rounds to make it to the semi-final stage.
A glance at last year’s scores does show that they have the ability to adapt to an opponent’s strategy. Case in point, after going down to Dunman Secondary 39–54 in Round 2, Catholic managed to eke out a 63–61 in the final game to clinch the National title.
They may have hit a rough patch by finishing fourth in the zone this year, but never underestimate Catholic High’s ability to bounce back stronger.
Fairfield Methodist
Coming off a breakthrough win in the zone final, coupled with a line-up that returns four starters who played in last year’s Nationals, Fairfield will be motivated to advance further than last year, where they bowed out in the first round after going winless in what was a Group of Death. Hopefully, the infusion of key contributors coming up from their equally successful primary school team will serve to change their fortunes at Nationals this year.
Raffles Institution
Raffles are armed with a post presence in Danny Goh (#10) and a strong supporting cast of front-court players. They bowed out in the first round last year, but lost a close game to Anglican High in a match which decided who made it to the second round.
Their advantage in having Danny this year over other teams is that they have a skilled center who is able to making proficient passes across the block, leading to extremely easy buckets for Raffles. The one key to lasting long in a playoff format is the ability to create easy scoring opportunities while conserving energy for defence.
Peicai Secondary
After spending a year focusing on his craft, Darren Ng (#10) has become an extremely adept scorer as well as the focal point in Peicai’s offence. This was in contrast to last year, where he ceded to his seniors, along with current teammate, Alden Toh (#7). Hopefully this change in offence will push Peicai further this time round, as they bowed out of Round 1 without a win last year.
On paper, this seems to be good, as having a strong interior scorer opens up the court for the rest of the team to get in on the act. On the other hand, the team also risks become a one-trick pony, where stopping Darren means stopping Peicai completely.
Girls
Final Standings
Champions — Singapore Chinese Girls’ School
Runners-up — CHIJ (Toa Payoh)
3rd — Raffles Girls’ School
4th — Zhonghua Secondary
Girls
Singapore Chinese Girls’ School
SCGS will be looking to repeat as champions, after strolling through to the playoffs and thrashing Nanyang Girls’ High 53–26 in the final. This year’s team looks strong as well, as they have a balanced scoring attack, coupled with a deep bench that is able to come in and replace the starters with no noticeable drop in productivity.
Caroline Gregory (#11) is one to look out for, as she has been wreaking havoc on defence for her team, using her long arms to stop drives and draw steals. That is not to say she cannot score at all, as she has been a steady contributor of points in each of her team’s games. With captain Tiana Ng (#14) at the helm, SCGS look set to make another long run this year.
CHIJ (Toa Payoh)
CHIJ(TP) will hope to make the top four this year, after falling one win short last year. In 2012, they managed to scrape their way into Round 2 with a close win over Yishun Town Secondary. However, their luck ran out as they were pipped to second place in their Round 2 group by Anglican High who had a superior points differential.
CHIJ(TP) will look to Jayne Chan (#12) for their fortunes. Her scoring abilities and disruptive difference has been the main reason for many of their wins this year, along with do-it-all captain Desiree Lee (#7) and the physical presence of Joelle Thng (#11) in the middle. Perhaps this might be the year CHIJ (TP) experiences a breakthrough.
Raffles Girls’ School
RGS were dumped out of Round 1 last year after being grouped with two strong teams in Nanyang Girls’ High and Dunman Secondary. Their zone defence looks extremely potent this year with Amber Voo (#6) at the helm and they have solid frontcourt scorers in Jeannine Tang (#10) and Brenda Tan (#11).
Zhonghua Secondary
After missing out on Nationals last year, Zhonghua don’t really have much pressure on them. The last time they made it to the Nationals in 2011, they bowed out of Round 1 without a win. Zhonghua have the psychological advantage over other teams as they have nothing to lose as any progress past Round 1 will be a good campaign for them.
2013 South Zone C Division Basketball Championships – fixtures and results
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