Written by: Yusoff Kim Edited by: Choa Zhao Xiang & Leung Lok Heng
Riding on a high from on their win over last year’s runner ups Kent Ridge Hall, our girls step on court with an over-powered lineup of Angie, Val. Shao, Laura, ShiYi, Nat, Li Ann and Michelle! Though they’ve been able to take every game so far without a hitch, the girls started the game off strong, never letting down their hustle for a single second.
TH started the first quarter in possession, but LYLC BRILLIANNT starts the quarter with a flying fish to grab the ball with some incredible hang and hammers it across the court to find ShiYi who puts up a contested shot to put Eusoff on the scoreboard. Without a single moment of faltering, our girls immediately sprinted back on defence and Michelle forces a turnover by pressuring every defender that comes anywhere close to her. Quick passes by Laura and Angie swing the ball around and their months of training can be noticeably witnessed by all in attendance as their chemistry blossoms, getting the ball to Val.Shao as she puts up 2 points in 1 minute.
SEA Games athlete Angie goes for a quick pass across the court.
Li Ann on defence is truly a force to be reckoned with, as she intercepts pass after pass by TH, while Michelle and Val fight for rebounds on both ends, boxing out their opponents. Though TH gets a point in somewhere, Shi Yi snipes the ball from every single part of the semicircle, putting us up 8-1 as she even gets an offensive rebound of Val’s shot. Not stopping anytime soon, she scores a point from deep, somehow swishing it on a beautiful bounce pass from Nat. Though TH tries to switch it up and run us down on the fast break, our girls don’t stop pushing for even a second, and angie YEETS the ball away on defence, then threads it to Val Shao in the next possession to bring the score to 11-4. Angie puts up a quick show, finding ShiYi and Val over and over as Nat hustles a ball away from TH, and Li Ann FLIES INTO THE AIR and just palms the ball away from TH once again, making netball look almost too easy for her. On offence, our scoring machines Val and Shi Yi just couldn’t stop scoring. Though TH makes a few good looks towards the end, every defence from EH forces them to take a tough shot, and even as our players got tired, they never stopped putting in their 110% and Shi Yi even wrestles the ball ground to the ground to end the first second quarter at 19-10 to EH.
Laura was fantastic throughout the night with accurate passes that set up her team to score.
The Third Quarter begins with Fan Favorite Jamie coming on on defence. Starting possession, Shi Yi misses a quick shot but gets her own rebound and scores, following it up twice to make it 22-10 to us! Val Shao also can’t help but smile as she puts in a point of her own, and Jamie touches the ball for the first time, SPIKING IT OUT OF BOUNDS as the spectators go wild! Though Jamie is in, Michelle doesn’t let up and continues defending the ball, getting a turnover of her own as the ball goes back to Shi Yi and she somehow hits a fantastic corner shot to put us up 24-12! Jess subs in and immediately makes an impact, stealing the ball away from TH and finding the freshly subbed Pat who puts up a one-legged shot for the flex on em, then scoring immediately on the fast start to bring it to 27-12! Though TH gets the turnover, Michelle puts on her jet boosters and flies on up to get the rebound, and the team touches the ball over to Shao who PUMP FAKES TWO DEFENDERS and tosses the ball back to Pat.
Nat was on point with her solid defence all night.
Jamie then shows everyone why she should be IVP capped, with an absolute cannon of a throw to Pat from end to end to get us one more ! Jess makes sure every rebound gets its chance to be shot by us from the centre as Michelle goes to the referee table for some reason, flexing her incredible netball IQ on all of us plebs. CAPTAIN CAITLIN COMES ON AND PUTS ON A SHOW STOPPER PERFORMANCE, showing the world why she’s captain caitlin, deftly escaping her defender to go 2 for 2 in the semicircle. As Jamie blocks TH’s GS, she takes the ball and throws it in the air as the buzzer beeps. Full time, 39-18 to EH.
Though our clowning about Sports D Amoos always says it’s just a game, as Netball’s dedicated writer for their IHG journey, I would like to say that our Netball girls have truly emulated the Eusoff Spirit in not only their trainings but also their matches. From their easier wins, to coming back from 9-2 down against KR, not a single time have I seen them falter as a team be it mentally or physically. They have never put their heads down whether it be letting a goal in or missing a shot, getting intercepted or failing a play. Instead, every single time, they come back stronger and stronger, and have taken their championship match decisively and deservedly. At the start of their season, Captain Caitlin gave us a rather lengthy quote of “ I believe that what separates a good player from a great player is responsibility and grit. I hope all the netball players can internalize and display them during both trainings and games!” In that respect, I believe she can be proud of what every player has done and how every player has performed. And in that respect, we can be proud of you Caitlin, for instilling that in all our players and building such a formidable team. Good job Netball Girls on bringing the Championship back to EH!
Individually skilled, excellence as one! – Caitlin
Your netball champions for IHG 19/20! Congratulations, ladies!
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