RI 65 Yuying 68

Our goal at the start of the match was to limit their three pointers and crash the boards against their big men. We did just that in the first quarter, forcing them to take contested shots. We lead 21-12.

However, things went wrong in the second. They started hitting many threes and finding the open guy. We did not communicate and this led to easy layups.

In the third, things were tight and the teams went back and forth. In the last quarter, we gave it our all, pressuring them and forcing them to turn the ball over. The game went down to the wire, and unfortunately they made a three point play in the last few seconds and got the win.

We worked really hard this game and came up short again. It was a painful, but we have to learn from these losses and make sure not to make the same mistakes in the nationals.

Let's all train hard these few weeks and give it our all in the nationals, even though we may be underdogs, we will fight to the very end.

RI 66 Queensway 72

Our focus this match was to stop their star player and play help side defense. In the first quarter we controlled the game and started with our press. The first ended 14-11.

However in the second and third quarters, their star player took over, scoring on many running shots and layups. Sometimes miscommunication was the reason why he managed to score so many points.

In the fourth, we were down by 15 points. We fought hard in the last quarter, hitting three pointers and layups. We forced the opponents to take tough shots and managed to rebound. But in the end, they made some crucial baskets down the stretch and we had a couple of costly mistakes, and we just fell short.

We had our chances this game, but rarely did we take advantage of these situations. We were very close to the win and fought extremely hard.

The third fourth placing will be against Yuying

RI 56 Peirce 67

We didn't start the match well, allowing them to score easy fastbreak points. They broke through our press a lot of times.

In the second half we played with better intensity on both ends of the court. We ran our plays and had easy points. But the opponents kept up the intensity throughout the game as well. We got within 4 points but unfortunately Peirce hit a few threes to put the game away. We fought till the last second and almost came back, but fell short.

Our rebounding was weak today, letting them get countless offensive rebounds as well as good looks from the three point line. We have to start games with much better intensity and spirit.

Peirce beat Catholic High, so we will be facing Queensway in the semis.

RI 100 KRS 38

Report from Redsports

We weren't focused at the start of the game. Surprised by their high intensity, we made a couple of silly turnovers. Our press wasn't working as well, with opponents driving and passing through the gaps, especially the middle. We were still able to get fastbreak points and ended the quarter 17-10.
The second quarter was as bad. We fouled them too many times and we were slacking on defense, allowing them to have open jumpers and second chance points.
In the second half, we turned up the intensity with our full court press and had many easy points. Sim scored 9 in the quarter, including one three. We were much more focused on defense and communicated with each other.
The opponents were worn out by the time the fourth quarter started. We took advantage and continued with our press, leading to 44 points in the quarter alone. Justin scored 14 points in the fourth.
For the past few games, we weren't ready for the game and started off very slowly. We need to learn to start with high intensity and concentration, especially in the next game against a strong team. We cannot foul too much either and just pressure the ballhandlers. We were surprised by the opponents' intensity at the beginning and that affected us mentally. So, in the next game, we must clamp down on defense right from the start and be calm if the opposing team pressures us. We cannot lose our cool and must communicate with each other on both ends of the floor.
Let's come back strong after the long weekend break and bring our A game versus Peirce.

RI 80 GES 36

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3D4QkC4LPY

We raced off to an early lead at the start of the game because of our press. However their main player managed to break our press a couple of times by dribbling down the sidelines. The first quarter ended 20-7.
In the second quarter, we were not able to trap them and allowed players to dribble down the middle and sidelines for easy layups. When they played a half court game they managed to hit a few threes as well. The halftime score was 33-19.

We wanted to focus on defense in the second half and we did just that. We pressed the opponents and prevented them from driving down the middle. As a result we converted many fastbreak points.We hit a few threes in the quarter as well.

In the fourth we fell back to a halfcourt press. We weren't able to trap well as the opposing players moved the ball very quickly and hit a few jumpshots. Our offense ran quite smoothly, hitting jumpshots and scoring on drives.

We have to work on our trapping the next game and communication on offense and defense. Sometimes players were confused and as a result led to the opponents scoring easy buckets.

RI 61 Catholic High 52

Match Report from Redsports

Report by Alex Loh
We knew we had to make a statement in today's game. We did. Before the match, we mentally prepared ourselves and focused on what we were going to do during the match.

At the start, we used our zone press and Catholic High turned the ball over a few times. When they managed to break the press and played against our man to man defense they were able to get a few layups. The quarter ended 15-8.

The second quarter was close with teams trading baskets, mostly layups and fastbreak points. Sometimes we weren't able to get back on defense fast enough and let them score a few easy points. Sim ended the quarter with a three.

During the third quarter we fell back to a man to man and played a halfcourt game. The pace of the game slowed down and the third quarter score was 12-17, with Sim scoring 6 points in the quarter.

The fourth period was quite crazy. We made a few mistakes and turnovers and allowed them to get back into the game. They started a full court press and we were nervous when they pressured us. Coach called a timeout to calm us down and Jordaan was clutch down the stretch, scoring 8 straight points in the final few minutes.

Today, we rebounded very well against a big team, with Lawrence getting a lot of rebounds. We maintained our concentration throughout the game and did not allow them to come back. We played hard nosed defense and that was why we won. This win is a confident booster for all of us and we will be ready for our next game.

B Div South Zone 2nd Round

B Div South Zone Tournament has kicked into high gear!

Group X
Catholic High (4-0, win-loss record)
Peirce (4-0)
Raffles Institution (5-0)
Gan Eng Seng (3-2)
Kent Ridge (3-2)

Group Y
Queensway (5-0)
Yuying (5-0)
Guangyang (3-1)
Fairfield Methodist (3-1)
Balestier Hill (3-2)

Fixtures for RI

• 5 Feb 1300hrs - Catholic High vs RI
• 8 Feb 1300hrs - RI vs Gan Eng Seng
• 10 Feb 1300hrs - RI vs Kent Ridge
• 17 Feb 1300hrs - Peirce vs RI

All games @ CCAB

ACSIS: RI 29-39 Singapore American School

Despite training on our defense to prepare for this game, our defense was still very bad with the opponents getting the ball in the painted area easily. This was because of varies reasons. Firstly, the wings on the weak side did not drop down to help out in the defense. Secondly, we were not taking our man, and there was confusion over whose was whose man. Thirdly, the post did not play aggressive defense, and front the opponents. As they were bigger than us, they naturally got the ball easily.

Furthermore, we played bad offense. After inbounding the ball, we wanted to pass a long one to the forwards in front so that they could have fast breaks. However, perhaps we were playing at the wrong tempo, and many of those passes we made were intercepted by the opponents. Sometimes, when there was open man, we did not see him and did not pass; we even made bad passes to those people.

Moreover, the Americans had made preparations for us. For example, knowing that our posts could drive to the basket, they always had people behind the ball, so that it would not become a 1 to 1 offense. They also were prepared for our full court press, with the players screening for each other during the inbounds play.

At the end of the first, after very bad defense, we were down 15 to 9.

In the second to fourth quarter, we played a full court press. At the start, we pressed very successfully, and the caught up by 8 points, and were down by 3. However, after that, we never caught up again. Our press was revealing its weakness. There were players who were not very sure of the press, and from time to time, we did not manage to trap them.

Despite wanting to win the game very much, we did not win. We played one of our worst games, so how can we expect to win? There were too many turnovers because of bad passes, fouls, and travels. Perhaps we could have won if we reduce those mistakes. But whatdone is done. We can only reflect and be ready for the finals

Scoring by quarters:

1st Quarter -- SAS 15 RI 9
2nd Quarter -- SAS 8 RI 5
3rd Quarter -- SAS 11 RI 12
4th Quarter -- SAS 5 RI 3

MVPs:

RI: Mark

SAS: #1 and #11

Commentary by Wee Xuan: From what I heard, you guys gave up quite a lot of rebounds. Rebounding is vital to a game too so remember to box out and be active on your feet. To box out guys bigger than you, simple just move and beat them on speed.