Story by REDintern Daniel Yeo. Photos by Dylan Chua/Red Sports.

Rachel Tan (NJC #2) attacks the basket against Jurong on her way to a 19-point performance. (Photo 1 © Dylan Chua/Red Sports)

Rachel Tan (NJC #2) attacks the basket against Jurong on her way to a 19-point performance. (Photo 1 © Dylan Chua/Red Sports)

OCBC Arena, Wednesday, April 4, 2018 — In a high-stakes game, where one team would be sent home, Jurong Secondary (JSS) came out on top over National Junior College (NJC) 64–44 in the second round of the National B Division Girls’ Basketball Championship.

This win guarantees Nanyang the top seed in their group and a place in the semi-finals with a 3-0 win-loss record. On the flip side, NJC fell to last position in the group and has been eliminated from the tournament with a 1-2 win-loss record.

Jurong were led by Loh Yu Xian (JSS #13) with 25 points, with Valerie Lim (JSS #7) chipping in 19. National JC were led by Rachel Tan (NJC #2) with 19 points, while teammate Agnes Lee (NJC #5) added 10 of her own, nine of which coming from outside the arc.

The stakes were high for this match: if Jurong wanted to qualify for the semi-finals over National JC, they would have to win by at least a margin of 10 points. Not only that, they would also have to hope that West Zone rivals Nanyang Girls’ took down Chung Cheng High (Main) in their matchup.

We asked captain Valerie (JSS #7) about what her team was thinking before their match began: “The whole team had the same mindset of wanting to fight today – everyone knew that we had to play well and fight.”

And truly, it was a battle – but a battle between two very different teams. Jurong played a slow-paced, deliberate style of basketball which made sure to utilize the size and length of their centre Yu Xian (JSS #13). National JC’s roster, on the other hand, consisted of smaller guards and wings which played a fast-paced, small-ball style of basketball.

Jurong had made some adjustments to their starting line-up in the hopes of keeping up with National JC, but it looked like it would take Jurong some time to adjust.

National JC unleashed their full-court man-to-man press on Jurong, causing turnovers left and right. At times, Jurong resorted to bringing the ball up the court with their big man, Yu Xian (JSS #13) due to the full-court press.

On the defensive end, despite Yu Xian’s obvious height advantage over the smaller National JC team, they managed to pull down offensive rebounds with their hustle and smarts for second and third opportunities to score.

That being said, if Jurong found a way past the full-court press, and managed to set up their offence, Valerie or Yu Xian usually managed to score the ball. With six and seven in the quarter respectively, they carried Jurong to an eight-point lead by the end of the first frame.

The second frame saw National JC intensify their half-court press, holding Jurong to just seven in the quarter while increasing their offensive production to double-digits. The exclamation point came at the end of the quarter, where Kimi Neo (NJC #15) found nothing but the bottom of the net on a long, buzzer-beating trey. National JC ended the half down by a mere four points.

As the second half began, Jurong’s coach was becoming increasingly unhappy with the calls, or lack of them, by the officials. Showing his displeasure, he was awarded a technical.

Jurong appeared unfazed, however, as they began pushing the ball with pace and sinking bucket after bucket. Not to be outdone, National JC fired back, and it soon became a back-and-forth scoring battle between five players: Rachel (NJC #2), Agnes (NJC #5), Valerie (JSS #7), Yu Xian (JSS #13), and Kindra (JSS #10).

Kindra, especially, was giving it her all. Apart from scoring five points in the quarter, she was making hustle plays, pulling down offensive rebounds, and drawing fouls in the paint. But, just as she looked like she could be getting hot, she landed badly on her ankle and had to be carried off the court.

When we asked what the team’s mindset was after losing Kindra to injury, Valerie (JSS #7) had this to say: “Her injury didn’t affect our mindset – we continued to fight. Even though she’s one of our key players, others stepped up.”

As the fourth quarter began, one could see that the National JC full-court press had lost its lustre. Running on a seven-man rotation, the tired legs of the National JC defence could not stay in front of the Jurong offence. Knowing this, Valerie (JSS #7) took any opportunity to drive past her defender for points, scoring six of Jurong’s 14 in the quarter.

Despite the huge deficit created by Jurong, National JC was not going down without a fight. With three minutes left in the game, Rachel (NJC #2) pulled up and drained a deep three to remind Jurong that it was not over yet. The National JC defence also did their best to double-team Valerie (JSS #7) and force her to give up the ball.

In spite of all that, Jurong would save their season and secure a semi-final berth over the South Zone champs, National JC, with a 20-point win.

An emotional Valerie (JSS #7) shared on the team’s takeaways for the semi-finals: “We’ll continue to fight hard, like today’s game.”

Jurong will face the reigning North Zone queens, Singapore Chinese Girls’ School, in the semi-final of the National B Division Basketball Championship (Girls).

The game will be held at Choa Chu Kang Sports Hall on April 6, with tip-off at 10.30am.

Scoring by Quarter
Jurong Secondary v National Junior College
1st Q: 17–9
2nd Q: 7–11 (24–20)
3rd Q: 26–8 (50–28)
4th Q: 14–16 (64–44)

Leading Scorers
Jurong Secondary
Loh Yu Xian (#13) – 25 points
Valerie Lim (#7) – 19 points

National Junior College
Tan Wei Xuan Rachel (#2) – 19 points
Agnes Lee Ying Faye (#5) – 10 points, 3 3PM

Jurong Secondary 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)

National Junior College Roster
Tan Wei Xuan Rachel (#2), Ng Mu Rong (#3), Agnes Lee Ying Faye (#5), Joanna Wei Xin Yue (#9), Arshia Bansal (#10), Tiana Huang Chienchi (#14), Kimi Neo Huilin (#15), Amanda Han Xinzhi (#20), Aruna D/O Vadivelu (#21), Baskar Janisha Reddy (#25), Engie Low (#27), Breanne Kaur Gill (#32)

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