Story and photos by Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports
Chloe Tan (NJC #10) makes her move against her defender. She had a game-high nine points. (Photo 1 © Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports)
OCBC Arena, Wednesday, April 19, 2017 — National Junior College (NJC) outlasted Victoria Junior College (VJC) down the stretch to win 34-29 in the National A Division Basketball Championship.
With this win, NJC have a 2-0 win-loss record currently. They defeated Millennia Institute (MI) previously and will play against Innova Junior College (IJC) next.
This game gives VJC a 1-1 win-loss record after they defeated IJC previously. VJC will play against MI next and have to win to advance.
Both teams started the game with intensity. They knew this was a crucial game to determine the first place of the group and both teams wanted to win badly to advance as first place of group Z. Neither teams were ready to give the other breathing space as they fought to a tie at the half.
In the third, NJC got off to a quick start to score two quick baskets. But Vivian Hau (VJC #12) answered with a post move to cut the lead to two. Shannon Tham (VJC #9) then made a basket plus the foul to tie things back at 14. She failed to get VJC the lead after missing the free throw.
NJC answered with Tay Jin Wen (NJC #2) knocking down a jumper and Chloe Tan (NJC #10) nailing the floater. They quickly brought the lead up to five but Vivian Hau (VJC #12) of VJC drew the foul and made two free-throws to end the third. NJC were up 19-16 at the end of the third.
VJC started the fourth with a under-basket shot by Sim See Min (VJC #7) to cut NJC’s lead to one. However, on the ensuing play, Chelsea Eng (VJC #6) got injured after attempting a three-point. This limited VJC’s rotation and NJC capitalized on that to play at a faster pace to tire the VJC players out.
Their plan worked as VJC started to have some lapses in their defense. This allowed NJC’s Chloe Tan (NJC #10) to knock down a three as they went on a 6-0 run to bring the lead to seven.
However, VJC’s Chelsea Eng (VJC #6) got back into the game after getting some treatment court-side and made an impact immediately. She made a fast-break layup after forcing a turnover to cut the lead to five.
Despite that, momentum was on NJC’s side. NJC continued to play good defense and score on their shot attempts to increase their lead farther to 10. With less than a minute to play, the lead was too great as NJC eventually took the game 34-29.
NJC captain, Cheryl Eio (NJC #4), commented, “We only focused on working hard, we didn’t really care about what the opponent did and just wanted to play our game. So we just focused on doing fundamental things like passing well and shooting well. When we are open, just take the shot. I think it is our focus on the little things that allowed us to get the lead back at the end.”
Scoring by Quarter
NJC vs VJC
1st Q: 05-05
2nd Q: 05-05 (10-10)
3rd Q: 09-06 (19-16)
4th Q: 15-13 (34-29)
Top Scorers
NJC
Tan Kei Chloe (#10) – 9 pts
Tay Jin Wen (#2) – 8 pts
Sylvia Yap (#8) – 7 pts
VJC
Ng Qi Hui (#10) – 8 pts
Chelsea Eng Rihuai (#6) – 7 pts
Vivian Hau Jing Han (#12) – 6 pts
NJC Roster
Tay Jin Wen (#2), Lim Jiayi Tamelly (#3), Cheryl Eio Yiyun (#4), Angela Chen Zhiyao (#5), Dhaveena Guna Segar (#6), Sylvia Yap (#8), Tan Kei Chloe (#10), Ashley Wong (#11), Caline Tang Yan Wen (#13), Ong Jia Qi (#14), Nicole Looi (#17), Lau Yu Hui (#25)
VJC Roster
Ong Sze Yan (#2), Nivedha (#5), Chelsea Eng Rihuai (#6), Sim See Min (#7), Jereca Png Xinyi (#8), Shannon Tham Ren Qi (#9), Ng Qi Hui (#10), Vivian Hau Jing Han (#12), Ng Xue Ying (#13), Koh Hwee Ching (#14), Rachelle Sim Yahn (#15)
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