Story by REDintern Lim Yi Fei. Photos by REDintern Chua Zhen Rong
Brian Julian (USS #8) grabs the rebound. He had a game-high 20 points. (Photo 1 © REDintern Chua Zhen Rong)
Bukit Gombak Sports Hall, Tuesday, March 2, 2017 — A clutch under-basket in the last minute of the fourth quarter gave Unity Secondary (USS) a 62-60 win over Jurong Secondary (JSS) in the final of the West Zone B Division Basketball Championship.
Unity had lost to Jurong previously in Round 1. With this win, Unity improve to a 10-1 win-loss record and they advance to the National Championship.
Jurong Secondary drop to a 10-1 record and will also advance to the Nationals.
Brian Julian (USS #8) had a game-high of 20 points while teammate Haran (#5) had 10.
Evan Csapo (JSS #15) and Soh Zhen Yu (JSS #17) led their team with 18 points each while teammate Shaun Ong (#13) had 13.
Unity were quick to get open and passed swiftly to lose their defender. With Micheal Jordan (USS #13) led the gameplay, attempting three successful layups while putting Jurong on skates.
Jurong guarded Unity even tighter and forced them to shoot from outside the paint. While Unity improved on their ball movement, Jurong dominated the offensive and defensive rebounds and pulled away with the lead, ending the first quarter with a 15-12 lead.
The second quarter saw Unity pressing hard on their men-on-men defence while Jurong led with clutch threes. Unity, however, fought back to tie. Both teams immediately fired up and forced all turnovers into fast-breaks, claiming fouls in the process.
Both teams were evenly matched and found it hard to take a clear lead, relying only on three-pointers. Sun Xing Yu (JSS #12) and Evan Csapo (JSS #15) hustled for all offensive rebounds while Unity replied with three back-to-back threes.
At halftime, Unity held a 33-27 advantage.
By the third quarter, Unity displayed their ball handling skills and swiftly cut through Jurong’s defence. However, their opponents were quick to reform themselves and handled Unity with their 2-on-1 defence to deny two of Jurong’s advances.
Haran (USS #5) and Brian Julian (USS #8) stepped up to fast-break and hustle which led to three successful baskets.
With Unity defending hard and making Jurong miss shots, they ended the quarter with a 43-35 lead.
Down to the last quarter, Unity carried on sinking threes. Jurong came back with fast-breaks and deep threes from their opponent’s turnovers. limiting their opponents to 19 points while they scored 25.
Even after adopting a man-to-man defence, Unity struggled as Jurong were still able to cut through them. Jurong advanced with three-pointers while Unity fought to cut into the paint.
Finally, a clutch game-winning under-basket by Jonathan Ng (USS #35) in the last minute brought Unity victory at 62-60.
Unity captain Ethan (USS #7) said, “The first quarter was bad but from the second and third quarter, we started to wake up and our team just never gave up our fighting spirit. Both teams played well but we worked harder.”
Jurong captain Evan Csapo (JSS #15) said, “We did good and we didn’t give up. Our defence was quite intense and the threes were quite accurate. Our ball movement was also not bad.
“My teammate Shaun Ong (JSS #13) shot threes the best, shot a lot and also clutches. We drew a lot of contact on the fouls. We also ran our fast-breaks quite well. Sometimes our court vision is not good. Our fancy no-look passes pulled us down.”
Scoring by Quarter
Unity vs Jurong
1st Q: 12-15
2nd Q: 21-12 (33-27)
3rd Q: 10-8 (43-35)
4th Q: 19-25 (62-60)
Top Scorers
Unity
Brian Julian (#8) – 20 points
Haran (#5) – 10 points
Jurong
Evan Csapo (#15) – 18 points
Soh Zhen Yu (#17) – 18 points
Shaun Ong (#13) – 13 points
Unity Roster
Stev chua (#0), Ryan Hoa (#2), Hairie (#4), Haran (#5), Gabriel Khoo (#6), Ethan (#7), Brian Julian (#8), Marco (#11), Micheal Jordan (#13), Soh Zi Xuan (#15), Jonathan Ng (#35), Karl Brian (#71)
Jurong Roster
Lu Kun Lin (#0), Muhammad Shafiq B Ali (#6), Hoond Zong Hao (#8), Darian Ong (#9), Ng Hoi Xun (#10), Wong Choon Yan (#11), Sun Xing Yu (#12), Shaun Ong (#13), Dinu Riandika Marshequila (#14), Evan Csapo Zhe Kai (#15), Soh Zhen Yu (#17), Brandon Ng (#20), Duncan Chua (#21), Benedict Quek (#24), Lee Wen Kai (#26), Rojean Roddle Reyes (#29)
More photos next page
Dear Author Yi Fei,
There are two factual error in the first two paragraphs.
1) this is West Zone Basketball Finals not North Zone as stated
2) Unity is not the national defending champions. In fact Unity did not qualify for the national round as they were not the top 4 B division boys team in West Zone.
This explains why Unity faced a seeded team Jurong in the first round.
Thank you and please make the necessary changes.
Hi Robin,
Thank you for spotting the mistakes. I have updated the story.