Written By: Nga Wan Qin Edited By: Valerie Chua & Jolene Wong Photographs By: Eusoffworks
Whilst Eusoff was still celebrating the well-deserved victory of our bball hunks, our bball babes dove straight into their warm up as they prepared themselves physically and mentally to go against the underdogs of this season, Kent Ridge (KR) Hall.
BEEP went the whistle and Hwee Ching was off! With reflexes that could put the Flash to shame, Giraffe Hwee tipped the ball to the eager hands of Capt Val, who quickly advanced the ball down for an attempt at a long mid-range shot. The ball bounced off the rim and KR was quick to box out and secure the rebound but they were not successful in their offence either. Seeing an opportunity to score, Wen Qi went up for a jump shot but it missed! However, Bread snagged the rebound in a jiffy and dished out to Capt Val, who laid waste to KR’s defence with a strong drive and scored an underbasket!
Giraffe Hwee (#17) taking a shot over her defenders!
Just as this reporter was celebrating our girls’ first goal, KR turned the tables on us with a 3-pointer shot! From then on, our girls seemed to hit a wall in both scoring and defence. While our girls had explosive drives that were unrivalled to even the WNBA, their shots were not meeting the hoop. Coupled with a breakdown in communication that left nobody to box out our opponents, the KR team was ecstatic as they gradually pulled their lead to an 11-point difference. Sharpshooter Jin Wen finally had enough of the scoring desert, and she took a shot at the 3-point line… AND SCORE BANG BANGG! The buzzer went off and the 1st quarter ended with the score 5-13 to KR.
After discussing how they were gonna turn things around and destroy KR, our girls came back on court with a vengeance. Hell hath no fury like our girls on court in this 2nd quarter! When a KR player tried to pull one over Chok with a spin move, Chok paid no heed to her showboating and stole the ball while her opponent was still spinning. She then made a fast break down and SCORED A LAY-UP!
Usain Chok (#15), using her long limbs to outrun her opponents, going for a reverse layup!
Time-out was no hindrance to our tigers’ annihilation as Angela and Vivian double down their pressure on the KR player in possession of the ball, allowing Angela to steal the ball and fast break from coast to coast to assist Hwee Ching. Muscular Hwee’s underbasket missed as she underestimated her strength, but Beast Vivian was there to rebound the missed shot and score an underbasket! KR attempted to initiate their offensive play but our girls forced a travelling foul with their persistent defence. Capt Val then impressed this reporter with her sick crossovers and mad handles that she converted with a 3-POINTER, BANG BANGGG! We had officially overtaken the lead, with the score 14-13. The quarter eventually ended 18-17 to Eusoff, with Joey dropping in a bank shot and Chok sliding in a lay-up.
Captain Val (#6) making a 3, putting Eusoff up by 1!
Now that our girls had the edge over KR, they could devote their attention to repeating their 2nd quarter’s success. Capt Val proved this by snagging KR’s rebound and passing it to LYLC Jamie, who fooled her defender through and through with her sik handles and dished to Hwee Ching, who was cool as a cucumber as she scored a mid-range shot! What a performance!
Unfortunately, KR scored an underbasket after converting one free throw, so a stalemate was reached with both teams at 20 all. LYLC Bread then scored a clean underbasket for our girls to gain the early advantage, and she extended the lead when she sank a long mid-range shot after a timely dime by Vivian, WAY TO GO BREAD! The rest of our girls on court continued to put immense pressure on the KR players and forced a travel foul almost immediately. Angela then stepped up to advance the ball and she dished to Bread who was on a ROLL (coz bread roll you getz??) as she took to the skies and put in a lay-up, OH MY GOODNESS 6 POINTS IN A ROW LIKE WHAT???? Smol T-rex Jin Wen then paired up with Jamie Jie Jie for a one-two punch power play and Jamie dished to Jin Wen who SCORED YET ANOTHER 3 POINTER, SIK STUFF!
Smol T-rex shooter Jinwen (#2) taking her 3-point shot. Such poise!
What could possibly be better than a 3-pointer? The answer is TWO 3-POINTERS! After Mojing got KR’s rebound, she passed it to Chok, who then advanced the ball to Centre Hwee Ching, who then dimed the ball to Jamie, WHO THEN SCORED WITH IMPECCABLE AIM! Talk about team effort much? And with that, the 3rd quarter draws to an end at 32-25 to Eusoff.
With a 7-point lead, it was still anybody’s game and our girls were well aware of that as they began the 4th quarter, ferociously defending their lead like an overprotective mother bear. Consistent Jamie continued to perform as she intercepted a ball as if the pass was meant for her, and she dimed the ball to Usain Chok, who scored an underbasket while her defenders were still chasing her dust! A couple of fouls that were awarded free throws to KR reduced the lead slightly, but our girls’ sturdy defence continue to keep them ten steps ahead. LYLC Jamie even began to have her own fun as she juked her defender with a fake before driving towards the basket for a sik lay-up! Truly living up to her reputation!
As if juking her opponent wasn’t enough… Jamie (#8) went for a layup and scored!
When there was only 50 seconds left to play, Eusoff called for a time-out and the score was 40-33. The deal was pretty much sealed, especially after Chok, Wenqi, Jinwen and Val each converted 1 free throw. The clock finally expired, and as KR’s #7 threw the ball from behind the half-court line to attempt an impossible buzzer beater, the rest of the team swarmed in to join their team mates on court. Eusoff had won the 6th gold for the day, with a score of 42-35!
LYLC Wen Qi (#5) going head-to-head for a layup… but isn’t she looking way too calm..?
How our girls started did not matter; it was how they finished. From being down 11 points to making a MAD comeback to winning the basketball championships by 7 points, our girls displayed such strength and tenacity from the start to end! This season has been a great one, and this reporter felt extremely honored to have been able to witness our girls’ rise to being CHAMPS. With one day left, all the best to our trackers and let us flood the spectators’ stand with yellow. One last time, EH SOAR AS ONE!
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