Varsity Boys have tough game against Dulwich
On Wednesday, December 7, a large crowd of students and teachers gathered on the bleachers, ready to cheer for the Varsity Boys Basketball Team at their home game against the Dulwich College School (DCS). The team was “pretty nervous” according to Timothy Lin (10), after revealing that they had previously lost tough games to SAS (Shanghai American School) and other international school teams. “We probably should’ve won [the previous games], but we just weren’t playing well…SAS was close though,” added Timothy. Aiming to win this game, Coach Tim Cook changed up the offense strategy for this game too, “we would attack the basket more, look for more layups and easy baskets inside [the three-point line], and [shoot] less three pointers”.
After a short period of warming up, the game started with the first two points to our boys. “We started off pretty well: we held onto the points,” said co-captain Tiger Ko (11). The first quarter ended with the DCS in lead of 13 points, and the boys closely behind at 8 points. The second quarter became even closer with only a 3 point difference. The entire team is anxious to reverse the lead in the second half.
The game’s intensity heightened in the second half, the point wavering, the gap between the two teams opening up and closing constantly. SMIC ended quarter three with 37:40. “[During] 4th quarter with five minutes left, we’re only down by 4 points and we’re ready to build up the momentum,” Tiger recalled. Although the audience was rallying up a deafening chant for the boys, the team seemed to be more agitated and impatient during the game.“I lost my temper, got a technical foul, [and] got fouled out. Because of that, we lost momentum,” Tiger shared with regret. The DCS stalled away the last two minutes, ending the game with a 46:55 (SMIC:DCS).
Ms. Kimberly Grace, after watching all the basketball home games, came to the conclusion that “this team [DCS] is a bit more challenging for them than all the others they played so far at home…I’m really proud of them for staying in the game because they could’ve given up at the end of the second quarter but they’ve been staying in there and continuing to fight.” The team, however, seemed to feel less satisfied with the results. “We need to learn how to be a little more aware of the situation of basketball which is looking at the clock [and] knowing when we need a easy basket, when we need a three pointer, when we should be playing the defense more aggressively,” said Coach Tim Cook.
“Our team is not that experienced compared to last year,” Sungho Lee (11) commented on the team that only consists of two seniors, with the majority as juniors. “Next year, we can definitely bring the championship back home; but this year, we just gotta try hard,” Tiger concluded.
Featured Image – Photo Courtesy of Christina Chen