KUCHING: What was anticipated to be an exciting finale to the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) U-18 Girls Kuching Basketball Championship turned out to be a dull affair.
SECOND STRAIGHT TITLE: SMK Siburan players celebrate after winning the MSSM U-18 Girls Kuching Basketball Championship.
Although defending champions SMK Siburan won the title for a second consecutive time, they only managed to overcome SMK DHPA Gapor, Stampin 31-17 in the final played at Siburan Basketball Stadium yesterday.
In the first half of the game, the girls from Stampin seemed to have hit a points famine as they could only manage nine points against SMK Siburan’s 15 amid strong defensive play by the latter.
Poor shooting also let SMK DHPA Gapor down as they only collected eight points in the second half.
After the breather, Joan Chan of SMK DHPA Gapor succeeded in marking SMK Siburan’s key player Chong Chong Fei and preventing her from scoring more points.
En route to the final, SMK Siburan who had stayed unbeaten, beat SMK Pending 69-10 in the first round and beat SMK Kuching High 44-23 in the second round.
They went on to defeat SMK Bandar Kuching No.1 46-21 in the quarter-finals and overcame Chung Hua Middle School No.1 45-26 in the last four.
Earlier, in the play-off for the third and fourth placings, SMK Bandar Kuching No.1 beat SMK Batu Kawa 49-33.
Meanwhile, 12 players have been selected to represent Kuching in the MSSM U-18 Girls Sarawak Basketball Championship in Miri from April 26-29.
They are Chong Chong Fei, Chong Mui Hoon, Choo Hui Yee, Chai Siu Ting and Chung Chiu Xia from SMK Siburan, Sherlyn Liew Sze Yee, Debbie Ting Pui Yii and Joan Chan Jia Min (SMK DHPA Gapor, Stampin), Crystal Ho Jing-Ying (Chung Hua Middle School No. 1), Josephine Wong Tze Wei (SMK Batu Kawa), Eileen Lau Tien Lin (SMK Sg Maong) and Kon Sii Ing (SMK Kuching High).