About that game

Heartbreaking.

Victory slipped right through the fingers of our grasp.

We had our opponents by their necks. Our players, sticking stubbornly to our game plan, stifled and choked our opponents’ free-flowing attacking game. And in doing so, we prevented an avalanche of points against us. At the same time, we frustrated them, eroded their fluidity, and rattled their team confidence.

It was David versus Goliath: an unequal match between BPGH, the seeded team in our group, and Fajar, and it was a game where BPGH was expected to stroll to a comfortable victory. As it turned out, our team refused to back off in the face of their seeming superiority.

We could have easily thrown in the towel. By the end of the 1st quarter, we were 0-10 down. My fittest player, Colvin, was virtually drained of his energy, so difficult was his task to mark the opponent’s most dangerous player out of the game. To his credit, he managed to nullify that lanky player and reduced his threat.

In the second quarter, Fajar stuck to their guns, and played a deliberate game of possession, passing the ball around, braking the speed of the game. We knew that BPGH’s players, many who tower over our players, are deadly when they attack. It turned out that they struggled to defend against our style of play. It must have exasperated them.

It worked. In the 2nd, 3rd and last quarter, Fajar outscored BPGH. In the last minute, we scored 2 brilliant baskets that propelled us into the lead.

It was nailbiting. My experience tells me that in schools sport, a 2-point lead against a top side in the West Zone can evaporate with one mistake or a lapse of concentration.

And in that one minute, BPGH scored just enough, to pip us by one point.

The final score? 44-43.

The massive sigh of relief from the opponents was palpable. It was clear to all, Fajar was that close to causing a massive upset in this competition.





This week, it’s back to basics – working on our formations, getting it right, sorting out our weaknesses. We have one last game left – against Jurong, the once-mighty kingpins of the region. We will be looking forward to that game. It's time to stand up and be counted, Fajar. Against BPGH, we almost defeated them. Against Jurong, we must raise our game to stratospheric heights. If we do, we can upset the odds.




As a side note, I think this is abundantly clear: no matter what happens to my basketball boys, I will always stand by them, in victory or in defeat. Always.




Fajar Basketball 2006

Front row (L - R) Shuan, Chong Yong, Zhi Cheng (B Div vice-captain), Hung Ju (B Div captain), Mr Ken Ng (teacher in-charge), Ms Ivy Lee (assistant teacher in-charge), Billy (C Div captain), Zi Ting (C Div vice-captain), Wei Cheng, Jie Qi

Second row (L - R) Andy, Norman, Micky, Wenxing, Theng Tat, Xin Yu, Roy, Andy, Kai Ming, Fadhli, Haoming, Wei Hao, Winston, Xiaokai, Vincent, Wen Bin

Last row (L - R) Lian Jie, Yan Sin, Tony, Jun Chang, Colvin, Alvin, Derek, Eugene