On the 11th of April, our Basketball Boys Team tipped off their season by facing off against Saint Joseph’s Institution (SJI) at the Basketball Association of Singapore (BAS).
Our boys started off rather tentative, focusing on bringing the ball up steadily and securely. As this was our first game, the team had earlier agreed on working on our defense during our team talk before the game. By the end of the first quarter, the score was 14-6, with Raffles Institution in the lead.
As the minutes went by, our boys started to heat up, raising the intensities of both offense and defense. Our persistent and hustle defense limited to our opponents to scoring only three points during the second quarter, and also forced a few turnovers from our opponents, resulting in a couple of fast break points. By the end of the first half, we had outscored SJI 21-3, and the score was firmly in our favor, 35-9.
One player in particular, had an extremely hot hand - Bryan Teo Zhee Long (#77) who nailed 6 three pointers out of 9 attempts, and played a huge role in raising the overall morale and momentum of the team. The team would get hyped up every time a three point was made which spurred the team to play even harder and stronger.
With the consistent hustle and aggressiveness played on defense, we went on to extend our lead and never looked back, winning their first game with a final score of 85-21. This is the 3rd time in 4 years that we have squared off with SJI and it was good to see that they are making progress as a team over these years.
This opening win is credited to every player who played coherently, supporting each other through thick and thin. It was good to see almost everyone get valuable minutes on court as well except Reuben who is still recovering from an injury. Our boys will definitely meet adversity in our ‘A’ Division journey later on, but it is important that we stay bonded and play as one team. For no matter what comes our way, anything can be overcome with the Rafflesian Spirit of never say die.
Our boys will face off against Saint Andrew’s Junior College next on the 16th of April (Monday) 2pm, at BAS.
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