Story by Zachary Foo/Red Sports. Photos by Louisa Goh/Red Sports.

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Joshua Ang (GES #15) and (QTSS #6) challenge for the rebound. (Photo 1 © Louisa Goh/Red Sports)

PESEB, Wednesday, July 2, 2014 — Gan Eng Seng School (GESS) edged out Queenstown Secondary (QTSS) 26–24 in the first round of the South Zone C Division Boys Basketball Championship. QTSS (#13) led all scorers with 13 points, while Jia Chen (GESS #11) led his team to the win with 11 points.

GESS are now joint second in Group A with a 1–1 win-loss record along with QTSS. GESS lost to Fairfield Methodist School (Secondary) 37–54 in their first match, while QTSS beat Anglo-Chinese School (International) 50–14.

Jia Chen (GESS #10) was one of the key players for GESS early on. His height and ability to cut into the lane created a lot of chaos for the QTSS defence. This gave GESS the early advantage in the game. However, QTSS slowly worked their way back into the game by grabbing offensive boards. This allowed QTSS to eventually tied the game up at 10-all at the end of the period.

Both teams found themselves unable to score early on in the second quarter. Five minutes elapsed before the first points were scored by GESS. GESS learnt their lesson from the first quarter, as they boxed out consistently to prevent any QTSS player from sneaking in to snatch an offensive rebound. QTSS (#13) was the only player who found any success scoring for his team in the quarter, contributing four points.

The third quarter saw QTSS looking to work the ball into the post for shots. This did not work much, as GESS did well to repel any shot attempt in the post.

The game remained close heading into the final quarter, as both teams remained separated by a point. The turning point came in the final two minutes of the period. QTSS found themselves at the free throw line a couple of times, but were only able to make one out of four free throws. Jia Chen (GESS #11) sealed the game for his team, scoring a fast break lay-up with less than a minute left to gift his team the 26–24 win. GESS will next face Anglo-Chinese School (International) on Tuesday, July 8 at 1:30 pm at PESEB.

Gan Eng Seng captain, Adarsh (#4), said, “It was a good game. We had a lot of turnovers but we won. It was a much needed victory for us. We hope to reduce our turnovers and small mistakes in future matches.”

Gan Eng Seng top scorer, Jia Chen (#11), said, “We need to cut down on our missed shots. We hope to reach the nationals this year.”

Scoring by Quarter
Gan Eng Seng School vs Queenstown Secondary
1st Quarter: 10–10
2nd Quarter: 6–4 (16–14)
3rd Quarter: 4–5 (20–19)
4th Quarter: 6–5 (26–24)

Top Scorers
GESS
Jia Chen (#11) – 10 points

QTSS
(#13) – 13 points

GESS Roster
Adarsh (#4), Brodin Sng (#5), Brian Yak (#6), Tan Xiao Wei (#7), Ryan Tan (#8), Le Zhou (#9), Alan Phua (#10), Jia Chen (#11), Choo Yu Xian (#12), Kai Loong (#13), Jerald Chen (#14), Joshua Ang (#15)

QTSS Roster
We were unable to obtain the roster for Queenstown Secondary. If you recognise any of the players, please post them in the comments below and we’ll update the post. Thanks.

South Zone C Division Basketball Championship — Fixtures and Results

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