Story and photos by Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports
Valarie Lim (JS #5) with the drive for two. She made five three-point shots and led the game with a game-high 20 points. (Photo 1 © Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports)
Jurong East Sports Hall, Friday, April 7, 2017 — Jurong Secondary (JS) cruised past North Vista Secondary (NV) 57-46 with their shooting and defense to stay undefeated in the National B Division Basketball Championship.
With this win, Jurong have a 13-0 win-loss record since the start of the West Zone Championship. They look to continue their unbeaten streak against Christ Church Secondary in the final.
This is North Vista’s second loss of the season and they fall to a 14-2 record. They will be up against Singapore Chinese Girls’ School next to determine the third and fourth placings.
Lydia Ang (NV #7) got off to a quick start, making the first six points for North Vista but they lost their momentum as Jurong started playing good defense to lock them down.
Jurong’s defense prevented North Vista from scoring, while they made their shots to increase the lead. They went on an 8-2 run to end the first quarter leading 16-8.
In the second quarter, Jurong started heating up from three-point range. Valarie Lim (JS #5) knocked down a three despite distractions from the crowd. They went on to make three three-point shots in the quarter to increase their lead further. Jurong stayed efficient from the three-point range all game and made a total of 10 three-pointers with five of them coming from Valarie Lim (JS #5), four from Alicia Quek (JS #9) and the last one from Ker Wen Qi (JS #7).
As Jurong continued knocking down their shots, North Vista had no answer for their efficient shooting. They could only try to catch up by scoring more on their part. However, Jurong still outscored North Vista 13-10 and were up 29-18 after the first half.
Jurong started the third with a series of good defense which led to turnovers by North Vista. They converted the turnovers into fast-break points and continued their hot shooting from three-point range as they went on a 14-1 run to increase their lead.
While they tried to fight back, North Vista could not get past Jurong’s solid defense. That and the lack of solution for Jurong’s scoring streak, North Vista could only watch as the lead continued increasing. Jurong were up 50-30 after the third.
In the last quarter, Jurong went to their bench with four minutes left to let their players rest. North Vista took advantage of that to mount a furious comeback. They started raking up steals and converting them into points to try and catch up. However, there was too large a lead and North Vista’s efforts fell short.
With a game-high 20 points, Valarie Lim (JS #5) led Jurong to the 57-46 victory over North Vista.
Captain Alicia Quek (JS #9) of Jurong commented, “We just trained very hard, putting in 101 percent in our efforts to get to such accuracy. As their interior defense was too tight, we tried to focus on our outside shooting which got us into a rhythm.”
When asked about the distraction during the game, Valarie Lim (JS #5) answered, “I didn’t care about what the crowd shouted and just focused on the game.”
She added, “North Vista’s defense was quite aggressive but we were locked on to our goal which was to get to the finals and we did it.”
Scoring by Quarter
Jurong vs North Vista
1st Q: 16-8
2nd Q: 13-10 (29-18)
3rd Q: 21-12 (50-30)
4th Q: 7-16 (57-46)
Top Scorers
Jurong
Valarie Lim (#5) – 20 pts
Alicia Quek (#9) – 18 pts
North Vista
Lydia Ang (#7) – 19 pts
Jurong Roster
Valarie Lim (#5), Ker Wen Qi (#7), Alicia Quek (#9), Kindra Sim Yuna (#10), Siti Suhaila (#11), Tan Kangyi (#12), Ng Luo Fei (#13), Le Yao (#14), Hannah (#19), Koh Yu Qian (#22), Richa (#24), Yu Xian (#29)
North Vista Roster
Tiong Zhi Wen (#2), Yuki Kung Zhixin (#3), Poh Ke Hui (#4), Kweh Jia Qi Joli (#5), Teo Zi En (#6), Ang Zi Yi, Lydia (#7), Lum Yi En Charis (#9), Nurruzinna Binte Rohaizat (#10), Ong Qian Ying, Nikki (#11), Chang Yoke Suan, Jamie (#13), Ros Ellisyah Nur Umairah (#14)
More photos next page
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