Written By: Nga Wan Qin Edited By: Valerie Chua & Jolene Wong Photographs By: Eusoffworks
GONG XI FA CAI HAPPY PIG YEAR TO ALL! This reporter is sure that everyone has had enough of the “mandatory” CNY OOTD shots and “You have received SGD 888.88 from XXX to your account via PayNow” texts. Whilst everyone was pigging out during this festive season, our basketball babes were hard at work and played their hearts (and bak kwa-filled bellies) out against the basketball team from Raffles Hall (RH)!
When the whistle blew, this reporter was taken by surprise when our friendly giant, Hwee Ching, lost the jump ball to RH’s giant. It was obvious most of the team were equally as caught off guard, as RH easily tipped the ball into the hoop without facing much opposition from our side. This blunder was soon forgotten, as the team fell into the man-to-man defence formation. Hwee Ching quickly redeemed herself when she intercepted the ball and went coast to coast and SCORED! Seasoned player Bread also went on to show that she was not to be trifled with when she sliced through RH’s defensive wall like a hot knife on butter and scored an underbasket! Not ready to throw in the towel just yet, RH made another attempt to advance the ball towards their hoop. Unfortunately for them, they were WHAMMIED by Mojing and Chok’s (roomie power!) aggressive wall-like defence, resulting in another turnover that Chok dribbled down speedily for an easy 2 pointer. Speedy Gonzales Jin Wen, with her great defence, forced a few RH turnovers, and went coast to coast, extending our lead! When Eusoff called for time-out, the score was at a steady 12-5 to Eusoff!
Friendly giant Hwee Ching pulling up for a shot!
After time-out, RH thoroughly SHOOKED everyone with a 3 pointer, leaving this reporter nervous that they had been holding back before. However, Jamie snuffed out this reporter’s uncalled-for anxiety with a long mid-range shot! Vivian also flaunted her know-how when she snatched Wen Qi’s rebound and scored an underbasket whilst being fouled by an RH player. She then secured this 3 point play with a FLICK of the wrist that sent her free throw straight into the hoop! Senior duo Valerie and Jamie then showed everyone that old is gold when they pulled sik one-two punch combos (not once, but twice!!!) before Jamie scored the underbaskets, concluding the 1st quarter 23-10 to Eusoff.
Senior duo Val (left) & Jamie (centre) showing off their chemistry on court!
In the 2nd quarter, our girls played with the debilitating full-court press strategy, going all-out man-to-man on the RH team. This quickly exhausted our girls, as they began to falter in their impeccable gameplay thus far. Not only were they losing rebounds due to ineffective box-outs, our girls were also making some unlucky miss-passes. Thankfully, our residential B Block capybara, Hui Ling, made a timely interception that invigorated her teammates’ morale. Hwee Ching, Shanice and Cap Val then rained down on their opponents to score one after another! Cap Val even went all Stephen Curry mode on us, with ankle-breaking crossovers that led to a no-look behind-the-back dime to Vivian, who then sealed the deal by putting in an underbasket! Despite their rocky start, our girls pulled through to finish the quarter 39-17.
With all due respect, the 3rd quarter was a complete annihilation. Armed with the full court 1-2-2 defensive strategy, our girls were unyielding in their defence and even pressured their opponents into a backcourt foul. Upon turnover, Speedy Gonzales Jin Wen passed the ball to fellow B Block freshie, Shanice, who then made a clean shot into the hoop to score for Eusoff! Superstar Vivian was on FIRE as she bagged rebounds after rebounds (this reporter counted at least 4 in a row) and scored almost instantaneously! Under the watchful (and proud) eyes of her plus one, Chok also impressed us with a long mid-range shot that further extended our lead. Towards the end of the quarter, even RH seemed to be on our side when one of their players made a fast break down to their attacking half but “passed away” when Vivian caught up to her, simply throwing the ball into her hands! Our girls’ commendable efforts resulted in a staggering 56-19 lead by the end of the quarter.
Freshie Shanice (#37) going for a fastbreak!
Going into the 4th quarter, it was evident our girls’ bloodbath was not yet over when Bread sunk in a 2 pointer comfortably. Not stopping there, veteran Wen Qi made an attempt at a 3 pointer but the ball fell short by a small margin. This rebound was then received by Solid Shanice who scored with zero hesitation! We got to see more of this Wen Qi-Shanice power couple at play when RH tapped the ball out at our baseline. Shanice made a sik overhead pass to Wen Qi, who then drove in hard to penetrate RH’s defence and score a sleek lay-up! As if our girls weren’t scoring enough, Cap Val showcased her MAD handles when she swooped in for the kill and scored a bank shot, just before she slid off the court from her insane velocity. This reporter even got to witness “third time’s the charm” when Shanice and Cap Val missed their shot consecutively, only for freshie Xin Yin to get the rebound and SCOREEEE! With that, the last quarter was completed, ending the match with a landslide victory of 70-21.
Even though this 2nd preliminary match took on a more light-hearted note, our girls never stopped giving their 101%. They showed this reporter what it meant to have sportsmanship, as they gave their opponent the utmost respect by not going easy on them. With another victory under the belt, our girls are off to the semi-finals! Keep hustling girls, Eusoff has your back!
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