Story by REDintern Lim Yi Fei. Photos by REDintern Chua Zhen Rong
Li Chen Bin (AI #19) attempts to break past Seh Jia Ler (EF #8) before making a pass. (Photo 1 © REDintern Chua Zhen Rong)
OCBC Arena, Monday, February 13, 2017 — Ahmad Ibrahim (AI) Secondary came back in the third quarter to defeat Edgefield (EF) Secondary 53-40 in a close fight.
With this win, Ahmad Ibrahim have a 2-0 win-loss record after previously defeating Punggol Secondary 48-32 in the North Zone B Division Basketball Championship. They will play Christ Church Secondary next.
On the other hand, Edgefield drop to a 0-2 record after losing to Christ Church 66-78 previously. They will play North Vista next.
Angelo Mesina (AI #15) had a game high of 26 points while his teammate Tang Wei Long (#18) had 12.
The first quarter started with George Soo (EF #2) securing a three-pointer. However, Angelo Mesina (AI #15) tied with a three-pointer as well.
Zafir (AI #24) dominated with his height under the basket and managed to vie for two offensive rebounds.
With point guard Angelo Mesina (AI #15) leading the gameplay, he drew two free throws in his favour. Bryan Kan (EF #0) utilized his height as well to posterize approaching Ahmad Ibrahim players, shutting down two shots and ending the first quarter with a tie of 13-13.
The second quarter saw Seh Jia Ler (EF #8) cutting through the loophole in Ahmad Ibrahim’s defence and scoring their first basket just 15 seconds in.
Turnovers from Ahmad Ibrahim resulted in Edgefield having chances to drive towards the basket. It was as though Ahmad Ibrahim had not warmed up yet.
This left Ahmad Ibrahim with no choice but to use men-on-men defence after the timeout. The defence allowed them to steal the ball and score an open layup. However, Edgefield started shooting from the two-point line to push up the score.
Ong Jun Min (EF #10), who was left wide open, managed to sink a two-pointer despite Zafir’s (AI #24) long arms rejecting three shot attempts from his teammates under the basket.
Angelo Mesina’s (AI #15) communication with his team allowed him to easily pick-and-roll through Edgefield’s defence and score, securing some fouls as well.
At halftime, Ahmad Ibrahim were trailing 22-27.
With Zafir (AI #24) under the basket, he managed to block two more attempts from Edgefield while scoring two offensive rebounds to.
Ahmad Ibrahim fired an open three-pointer but Edgefield retaliated with a successful three-pointer to tie.
With four Edgefield players in the paint, they managed to deny three layup attempts from Ahmad Ibrahim.
Undaunted, Angelo Mesina (AI #15) shot in an open three-pointer to give his team a two-point, 36-34 lead at the end the third quarter.
Down to the last quarter, Edgefield started losing their momentum as they started to run out of energy. They missed two shots while Ahmad Ibrahim took advantage to fastbreak twice but which also proved unsuccessful.
The score remained stagnant despite both teams going for back-to-back fastbreaks. It was only until late quarter that Zafir (AI #24) scored his two free throws to pull away with the lead.
With Ahmad Ibrahim warming up and strengthening their 2-on-1 defence, they managed to force turnovers to score two more easy baskets, eventually ending the fourth quarter victorious at 53-40.
Angelo Mesina (AI #15) said, “Our defence at the first quarter was bad but improved at the next quarter. We tried to make them play our pace and control the game.
“Our strategy and turnovers were bad as we didn’t really control them in the first quarter but we still managed to come back in the second quarter.”
Top Scorers
Ahmad Ibrahim
Angelo Mesina (#15) – 26 points
Tang Wei Long (#18) – 12 points
Edgefield
George Soo (#2) – 20 points
Ong Jun Min (#10) – 10 points
Ahmad Ibrahim Roster
Denzel Tan (#1), Louis Ho (#4), Sau Yong Teong (#10), Yik Han (#12), Angelo Mesina (#15), Cedrick James Tupas Castro (#17), Tang Wei Long (#18), Li Chen Bin (#19), Thomas Tan (#21), Tanner Lim (#23), Zafir (#24), Elvis Ye (#75)
Edgefield Roster
Bryan Kan (#0), George Soo (#2), Briston Tan (#3), Kenneth Yap (#4), Alex Teo (#5), Zachary Ng (#6), Zeaus Teo (#7), Seh Jia Ler (#8), Colin Loh (#9), Ong Jun Min (#10), Jerrell Ho (#11)
More photos next page
The final score was 40-53
Hi Angelo, the final score has been updated. Thanks.