B Division Nationals Round 1 Game 1: Raffles Institution vs Yishun Secondary (41-29)

Raffles Institution vs Yishun Secondary (41-29)

Pts by Quarter:

           1st-------2nd-------3rd-------4th
RI------4---------6---------14-------17
YS------8--------4----------6--------11


This game got off to a miserable start as we struggled to get any kind of offense going, bricking shots from the outside while barely missing inside looks that we got. We only managed to score a mere 4 points in the first 10 minutes of the game, and scoring another 6 points in the next 10 minutes. However, we played solid defense on our own side of the floor and made sure that the opponents had to work for every point that they scored on us. Our defense was tough and we managed to keep ourselves in the game despite our horrendous shooting, as we trailed 10-12 after the first half. This was all too familiar as we found ourselves in the same situation a month ago against Guang Yang Secondary in the South Zone second round.

Coming into the second half, we knew that we had to treat it like it was a new game and come out strong. We definitely did not want to wait until the last quarter to make a huge run like we did in the 4th quarter against Guang Yang. Hence, we came out strong as we managed to rack up steals and get fastbreaks to take the lead, as well as forcing Yishun into many bad passes over our long arms, resulting in the ball dropping out of bounds. Although our offense finally started to click, we did not let up on our defensive side either, giving up only 6 points in the 3rd quarter to Yishun.

It was more of the same in the second half until there was around 2 minutes left in the game with us up by 6. Their key player and starting center #15 got an offensive rebound after his teammate's miss and got an and-one out of it. After converting the free throw, we found ourselves only up by 3. Although we failed to convert on our offensive end of the floor, when we came back on defense, we got a block and the ball was fired ahead to captain Jovi who converted on the fast break to pull the game to a 5 point margin. They called a time out and set up a play, but it was foiled by our PG Tristen who intercepted the ball, streaked all the way down for the lay up plus the foul, stretching the lead to 8 after converting on the free throw. Shao Jie also got into the action as he stole the ball at the exact same spot and went to the other end for a fast break layup as well effectively sealing the game as we found ourselves up by 10 with a little more than ten seconds left.

Although this was the first game of the nationals and we may have been not used to game conditions after not playing for 2 weeks, we definitely cannot come out the same way in the upcoming 2 games against Jurong Secondary and Anglican High, both who are extremely tough opponents. We have to find our offensive groove early while continuing to stay disciplined on defense. Cutting down on turnovers is important too as turnovers by us give the opponents a easy fastbreak layup on the other end. The next game will be played at Clementi Sports Hall on Friday at 4pm. Our opponents will be the 3rd seed in the West Jurong Secondary.