Story by REDintern Daniel Yeo. Photos by Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports.

Kindra (#10) of Jurong Secondary shoots against Amelia Foo (#17) of St. Margaret's Secondary. (Photo © Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports)

Kindra (#10) of Jurong Secondary shoots against Amelia Foo (#17) of St. Margaret’s Secondary. (Photo 1 © Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports)

OCBC Arena, Monday, March 19, 2018 — Jurong Secondary (JSS) coasted to a convincing 50–24 win over St. Margaret’s Secondary (SMS) in the first round of the National B Division Girls Basketball Championship.

This meant that Jurong got off to a 1–0 win-loss record in the opening round while St. Margaret’s fell to a 0–1 win-loss record.

Jurong was led by Celine (JSS #4), the game’s top scorer at eight points. St. Margaret’s was led by Cassidy Wong (SMS #16) with seven points.

The game began, and Jurong promptly took the lead with a scoring run of eight straight points by Celine (JSS #4). The first quarter subsequently ended with a score of 16–5 in Jurong’s favour.

In the second quarter, it became evident that both teams were taking a slower-paced approach to their offences. Despite this, neither team was moving the ball well, and this led to turnovers.

However, Jurong was able to capitalize on their fast-break opportunities better, ending the half up 24–9.

It was more of the same in the third quarter, with St. Margaret’s unable to find a gap in Jurong’s transition defence and Jurong having their way inside the arc.

Though Jurong had not hit a trey the entire game, they continued to move the ball around and found better shots inside the arc. Their offensive rebounding and dominance in the paint also gave them second and third opportunities to turn their possessions into points.

On the other hand, St. Margaret’s doubled their point production in the final quarter, with Achelle Sim (SMS #93) and Cassidy Wong (SMS #16) combining to hit three treys to end the game.

Even so, it was never going to be enough to turn around a 26-point deficit, and Jurong emerged as victors 50–24.

Ng Regine (SMS #06) praised Jurong, saying “Jurong is a very strong team. We made some mistakes along the way, but overall, I think it was okay.”

Jurong Secondary will take on Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary and St. Margaret’s Secondary will take on Anglican High next.

Both matches will be held on 21 March at OCBC Arena and will tip-off at 3.45pm.

Scoring by Quarter
Jurong vs St. Margaret’s
1st Q: 16–5
2nd Q: 8–4 (24–9)
3rd Q: 10–4 (34–8)
4th Q: 16–11 (50–24)

Leading Scorers
Jurong

Celine (#4) — 8 points

St. Margaret’s
Cassidy Wong (#16) — 7 points

Jurong Roster
Celine (#4), Charmaine Ong (#5), Valerie Tan (#6), Valerie Lim (#7), Koh Yu Qian (#9), Kindra Sim (#10), Richa Rachel John (#11), Loh Yu Xian (#13), Foo Le Yao (#14), Ng Kai Lie (#17), Putri (#23), Sarrah Nabilah Bte Mokhlas (#31)

St. Margaret’s Roster
Shanelle Selvakumar (#05), Ng Regine (#06), Heather Neo (#08), Emma Sudharman (#09), Wong Yew Ling (#10), Seah Wan Ni (#11), Faith Koh (#12), Cassidy Wong (#16), Amelia Foo (#17), Jean Tan (#28), Wan Li Xin Yuan (#88), Achelle Sim (#93)

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