The Cagers won their 6th consecutive PHT Northern Zone Championships in SMS Sultan Azlan Shah (SERATAS) Taiping convincingly.  This year Quest-4-Glory (Q4G) decided to field a team with 8 juniors in preparation for the next year’s tournament. They did well despite the games were played with a 7 minutes non stop every quarter (a total of 28 minutes per game).  So it was really a short game, not more than 5 minutes of actual playing time.

The Cagers left Kuala Kangsar at 3:00 pm with 12 players (4 Form 5s, 4 Form 4s, 3 Form 3s and 1 Form 2) accompanied by Cikgu Rizal and Cikgu Fatimah led by Cikgu Roslan PK KoKo plus the Debaters.  They arrived safely in SERATAS at 4:00 pm .  After unloading and settling down in the respective dorms, the Cagers were not able to train due to rain.

Friday 11 April 

8:00 am vs. SMS Pokok Sena

The Cagers’ first game was against SAINA. The SAINA team came over to KK during the mid-term break to train together with the Cagers.  It was a game between two friendly parties.  Mr. Liew also spent several weekends in SAINA to follow up on the team.  The Cagers started well. The starters (Mokri, Ammar, Justin, Am & Starmy) established a big lead 19 – 2 at the end of 1st quarter.  The junior took over and maintain the dominance by leading 32 – 7 at the half.  The third team struggled to maintain the intensity in the third quarter.  The second team took over in the last quarter and managed to stretch the lead.  The final score 46 – 13.

10:15 am vs SMS Sultan Md. Jiwa

The Cagers started well. The starters again established a big lead 16 – 0 at the end of 1st quarter.  However, the second team struggled when they took over in the 2nd quarter.  Nothing was falling in; luckily they managed to put up a strong defense.  They only managed to score a point to lead 17 - 0 at the half.  They recovered in the second half by scoring 15 points to lead 32 – 3 by the 3rd quarter.  They kept the intensity by scoring another 20 points in the 4th quarter to win by the score of 52 – 8.

Saturday 12 April 

8:45 am vs. SMS Tuanku Syed Putra

Syed Putra lost their game against SAINA yesterday.  It was an upset because they had beaten SAINA by 22 points in a friendly game before this tournament.  However, with Mr. Liew around to coach, SAINA exacted a sweet revenge by beating Syed Putra 19 points.  This left Syed Putra a difficult task, beating the Cagers to move on.

Cagers’ starters played well to lead 12 – 7 after the 1st quarter.  They tightened up their defense and capitalized the opponent’s eagerness to score by launching fast breaks after fast breaks. Cagers led 24 – 8 at the half.  The second team took over in the second half.  They continued the excellent defense by the starters and kept scoring easy baskets from the fast breaks.  Cagers won 46 - 19

11:45 am vs. SM Sultan Abdul Halim

Cagers’ starters were rested for this last group game.  Cagers are already in the semifinal.  The second five started the game and continued to play well to lead 19 - 6 after the 1st quarter.  They tightened up their defense and continued scoring to lead 25 – 6 at the half.  The third team took over in the second half and continued to play well to lead 33 – 7 at the 3rd quarter.  Cagers’ third team began to coast and allowed the opponent to out score them 8 – 10 in the fourth quarter.  Cagers won 41 – 17.

8:00 pm Semifinal vs. SMS Tun Syed Sheh Shahabuddin

SMSTSSS made it to the semifinal through count back after 3 teams in their group lost a game each. SMSTSSS were playing the 1-2-2 full court press tactics in the previous games.  Cagers’ were ready to play against the full court press.  Cagers broke the press at will and resulted in easy baskets.  Cagers led 17 – 2 by the 1st quarter.  SMSTSSS continued using the same tactics, the second team also broke the press easily and led 37 – 10 at the half.  The second team continued the excellent play by leading 51 – 17 in the 3rd quarter. The third team stretched the lead in the last quarter.  Cagers won 62 – 19.

Sunday 13 April 

9:15 am Final vs. SMS Pokok Sena

SAINA made it to the final after beating SMST. Intan in double OT in the other semifinal.  It was a very close game all the way.  Mr. Liew was coaching SAINA.  SMSTI players were better with the individual skills but were plagued with foul troubles.  4 main players fouled out of the game and one was suffering from cramps.  SAINA players took advantage in the 2nd OT by crashing the board and it paid handsomely when they made it to the final

The final game was played in a friendly atmosphere.  The SAINA players were tired after their titanic battle in the semifinal while the Cagers cruised in theirs.  The Cagers played in a relaxed manner while keeping the opponent at bay by playing excellent defense.  Cagers led 17 – 5 in the 1st quarter.  The second team took over from the 2nd quarter. They struggled to defend against the bigger opponents but managed to keep the lead 23 – 16 at the half.  In the second half, the second team used their superior fitness to outrun their tiring opponents and extended the lead 33 – 20 after the 3rd quarter.  They slowed down in the last quarter but still managed to extend the lead.  Cagers won 42 – 28.

Conclusion

Overall, the Cagers played well in the tournament.  Skill and stamina wise, they were on a different league compared to other teams.  The juniors showed their potential by playing well in the tournament.

We would like to thank

• MCKK admin for allowing us to bring the junior supporters to see the games,
• Dr. Sallehin and family for hosting 10 junior supporters in his house and bringing them to court to see the games,
• The oldboys who came and supported the Cagers.  Sorry for the ‘low-key final’,
• Azran 96 for the 100 plus drinks for the Cagers.

The finalists and North Zone representatives to the HKSBP National in SMSAH, Jitra end May 2008

Text by : iseismail

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