RI 54- 63 Unity Secondary School

(the report was done without the scoresheet, and some information might be inaccurate.)

We already knew before the match, that this might very well be the last game of our C division season. We knew that B division was much tougher and we wanted to make sure we were cherishing this chance of a lifetime. With a win and a loss, we had to ensure a win in order to qualify. Either we will make it in as group champions or we would be eliminated. Unity's skill level is way above us, but we decided, we won't go don't without a fight.

The game plan was too deny Delvin Goh, their star 1.93m center and to keep him between the two free throw lines of the game. However, there were many stupid fouls and the first three points came from the free throws of the Unity players. With their big, imposing center on defense, our shots were knocked away by Delvin in the many attempts we tried to score. They got many easy baskets, though we got our fair share when we got our momentum going, with Alex making a couple of layups with Daniel. The first quarter ended 10-18.

The second quarter, we were still unable to catch and match up with our opponents. Joel scored 6 out of the 9 points we scored in that quarter, but our opponents edged ahead with 17 points in that quarter. Daniel also managed to tipped in an alley after a missed three point attempt. Even though we did a decent job denying and wearing Delvin out, we still did not box him out at the crucial moment when he entered the paint area, allowing him easy putbacks and rebounds. The third quarter, we seemed to be wearing down, and the superstar center sprinted past us after our opponents set a screen for him. We were missing many our rebounds, we were missing easy baskets, we had more of the stupiud fouls in the first quarter and it seemed like we were almost giving up, we ended the quarter 27-52. Down by 25 points, most teams would have given up by now.

But we didn't.

We fought back up, with our full court zone press and man to man, we caught off Unity by surprise. Many turnovers came about, and we were making layups, fastbreaking, hitting our three pointers, including Yves fadeaway hook shot from the free throw line! We fought our hearts out, we could feel our teammates supporting one another, we could see the fear in the Unity players eyes, and even Joel grabbed 3 offensive rebounds. Chng and Yves punished the Unity offense by grabbing the rebounds and outlet to the wings for fast break. Slowly, we chased from 25 points down to only 9 points down. But it was a little too late, for we got beaten by the clock, and the game ended 54-63.

And with that, that's the end of our C Division season! After all the blood, sweat, tears, sprains and injuries, it has all ended. From the time when we were selected to join Basketball, to the first friendly we ever played as a batch against Yishun to ISIBL, to south zone and finally, to the nationals, our team has matured a lot. From training under the blazing sun to running and gymming, this was the team that trained together for the past one and a half years. We won as a team and lost as a team, because no one gave up. We fought till the last second, we struck fear deep into the hearts of Unity. We won as a team, lost as a team. Tonight when we go to sleep, we wouldn't think about all the mistakes that we've made today or the past matches. Tonight we'll dream of all the achievements and victories our great team has achieved, because I don't want any of us to remember this season with all the pain and losses, I want us to remember this magical season as one that will live in my heart forever, that every time someone talks about it I'll be able to say: We're proud of our team, we love our teammates and that no one can ever change that.

RI BBALL C DIV'09

NATIONALS TOP 8
TEAMMATES FOREVER

Presbyterian High 45-49 RI

All of us knew that today's game was either win, or go home. At school, instead of our usual mental preparation, we gathered in a circle and we stressed to each other the importance of this match, though some people were still concerned about their personal affairs instead of the game.

Better prepared than Presbyterian High, we started off intensively with a 1-1-3, where we limited their superstar point guard Nethaniel from getting the ball many times. The second row also limited the high post and we disrupted their plays, giving them bad shots or low percentage ones. However, it wasn't good enough, and we ended with a slight lead of 15-16. The second quarter was a low scoring one. We totally denied Nethaniel and it became more of a 4-on-4 game, and we continued to outscore them 5-7. Third quarter, we managed to foul their key high post player out, and the game became easier for us, where we outscored them again 8-11. We ended the third quarter 27-33.

However, at the starting of the fourth quarter, we suddenly had so many turnovers that it should be illegal, resulting in easy lay ups for them. The zone press that we broke continuously for the past 3 quarters suddenly seemed to breaking US, and we even let them get the score even with us. There was one instance on defense, we played so badly, we let them grab the rebounds over and over again until they scored. Fortunately, we managed to pull a two point lead and we held onto the ball till the last second and Alex scored the last second layup, which ended the game 49-45.

Today's match, even though by score it's a victory for us, we did not win the game. Pres High lost the game. Just like the old boys said, in life you cannot be happy with small victories, because when you are contented with a small victory, you woul stop pushing yourself to be even better. You are your own worse critic, when you are the cream of the crop, you only can compare with yourself and no one else, and that's the only way for yourself to improve. Good job everyone, and now let's get our mind set for the Friday's game.

RI BBALL C DIV' 09

No one breaks the team except ourselves

RI 47-61 Jurong Secondary School

Coach said if we managed to get 60% of the rebounds today, we would win the match.

Today was the start of our the second round, and it was evident that we were much less prepared compared to Jurong, which was obvious from the start.

The start of the match was terrible. We let in many many points, most of them fast break lay ups, or uncontested shots which kept flowing. After letting in many shots, we changed from 1-1-3 to a 3-2, which we managed to fight back a little, but still unable to get back our momentum, and we ended 10-22.

We started off the second quarter much better than the first, and we went to a full court trap, forcing many turnovers and performing well. However, we were still unable to catch up, and we were letting in too many shots that should be contested, including two three pointers. However, we still outscored them 17-14. The third quarter, we repeated what we've done in the second quarter, and we outscored them 11-8.

The last quarter, however, we seemed to have lost heart, not trapping on the full court trap, not even bothering to contest their shots. We missed easy lay ups and underbaskets even against guys who had 4 fouls. Because of that, we were down from 6 to down by 14, and the game ended 47-61. Probably the two good things that came out of this was that we got at least 55% of the rebounds, and that we got them into foul trouble since the first quarter. However, we lacked that 5% to make it a win, and once again, too many turnovers.

This is our first loss ever in a season, and hopefully our LAST lost this season. Tomorrow we will be playing against Presbyterian High, where it's a break or make match. If you have a winner's mentality, think about what mistakes you made and how NOT TO REPEAT THEM. Take it easy, breathe in and stop thinking about today's game, think of how much better you'll perform tomorrow and how you'll make up for your lack of effort in tomorrow's game.

RI BBALL C DIV' 09

It ain't over till the fat lady sings

Nationals Second Round Fixtures

Looks like the second round just got fiercer.

RI vs Jurong 28/7/09 1.30pm

RI vs Pres High 29/7/09 2.45pm

RI vs Unity 31/7/09 4pm

Venue: Clementi Indoor Stadium

The matches will just be as hard, or even harder, than the first. With three zone champions in the same group, we will fight to the last second, no matter what the scores turn out to be.