'Zai' Team Titans flex muscles to progress to Zonal Finals undefeated for Boys U16s while Team Galaxy shoots for the stars as they end the week on a high in the U19s
PHOTO: KIN PRODUCTIONS
7 March 2022, Singapore - When you play in an ActiveSG Cup Basketball 3v3 tournament, you base your team around three fundamentals of basketball. For starters, height and strength for someone to get onto rebounds and outmuscle opponents.
It would help if you had someone who can have perfect handles and that can weave himself in and out of sticky situations to either get a foul or successful make his way through to the basket for a lay-up. Lastly, you’ll want a shooter.
Someone that can sink three-pointers or be able to get jump shots when everyone else watches in awe. Dare I call this the recipe for success?
Time stands still when one stops to look and admire Lorcan defying gravity. PHOTO: KIN PRODUCTIONS
I’ve yet to be proven wrong. Coming out of Week 3, Team 828, better known as Team Titans, were on the tip of everyone’s tongue. The boys in blue or white were bossing about the U16s in the Central Zone with their array of talents across the team.
Formed by Kellen Tor, who was made known about the tournament by word of mouth in his school. He took it upon himself to build a team surrounding his own from friends from his club who he believes are “so Zai” that they are definite challengers for the title as U16s championship.
Height Gives Team Titans Aerial Advantage
The team consists of 5 players with the likes of Lorcan, whose height is a massive menace in this age group; next up is Julian Lin with his ability to get in and around defenders, Triston Tang, who is always making space for an open shot and Han Loke, in his goggles, who never runs out of energy.
Every single one of them are happy to be back playing competitive basketball, and they look forward to the challenges in the upcoming knockout rounds. Do keep an eye out for them. It's not that difficult.
Nihal nailing his 3-pointer against Team Siglap 3. PHOTO: KIN PRODUCTIONS
Besides the physical aspects, basketball is a team game, and with that, you need great chemistry and a strong sense of teamwork. That is what we can expect to see from Team BBB.
Although they are spread out individually all over the island, these five boys make a point to meet up often and practice on their game to ensure that they are no pushovers in this tournament. Other than their loss to Team Titans (8-13), Team BBB were able to pull off victories against 4KTREY(13-10) and Siglap Team 3 (22-10).
These are not scores you would expect from a team playing their first-ever tournament together. Jay, who signed this team up for the tournament, came across the invitation on Instagram and shared the idea with the rest of the boys.
Team BBB Grateful for Opportunity
The team was very grateful for the opportunity to pit themselves against the best in the central zone. There was no way you could pin a star player in this team simply because they fed off each other. Nihal owned the 3 point line while Hien was making sure that his physical presence was making it difficult for his opponents to get onto any rebounds.
Kash was very tactical in making himself available for a pass on an offensive rebound. At the same time, Collin completed the team on and off the court by spurring the team on and making himself available to cover any role as a substitute.
They might not be undefeated, but with Team BBB’s desire and hard work, they are out to be the dark horses in this competition.
Prakash making a jumpshot against Team Proform Gold. PHOTO: KIN PRODUCTIONS
In this competition, we come across exciting names surrounding food. Teams like Team Friedfood, Team Seafood and Hanbaobao, but did anybody think about snacks? Thank god for Vijay, Vinith, Prakash, Sriram and Ebi – Team DoubleoOreo.
The boys from Bukit Batok decided to name themselves that as it was their favourite snack, but you can think twice if you believe that you would be dunking them in the basketball courts. Team Doubleoreo chanced upon the competition on Instagram, and they wanted to get that competitive edge back after the pandemic.
Sticking Together Through Thick and Thin
Sriram believes that with more competitors, the team grows stronger through every victory or defeat. The rest of his teammates shared the same sentiments. Prakash expressed how important it is to stick together “through thick or thin, just like an oreo”.
Although they are not front runners in the competition, that never took away their excitement in facing every opponent and the lessons they’ve learnt along the way, with their biggest win coming against Proform Red last week being the “highlight of the tournament so far”.
They started this week with an easy win via a walkover at the expense of The Outramians, but they couldn’t get a result from their other two games, losing to Proform Gold (3-21) and narrowly losing out to Team TSB (9-11). Win or lose, Team Doubleoreo promises lots of fun and action in and around the courts.
Stop and stare as Crouse reaches for the stars against Team MICE. PHOTO: KIN PRODUCTIONS
The biggest motivation that can ever spur you on to success is the heart. The heart gives you that belief to defy all odds and reach for the sky, but sometimes it’s easier said than done. However, Team Galaxy might have what it takes.
Captained by Crouse, who leaves every game looking like he just left a catfight winning, Team Galaxy are definitely in the running for the title, especially after coming out of this week with all three wins in the bag even though they were missing 2 of their players in the form of, Raghav and Eain.
The Boys from United World College
With Bazz and Magnenat, the boys from UWC are showing lots of heart and motivation to win every single point out on the court, and they promise lots of “hustle” and “physicality” should you choose to stand in their way.
Having played for two years, you can see their chemistry playing out on the courts, and it is no surprise to see them challenging against the likes of Proform Gold and FriedFood. Just like most of the teams, they missed that sense of competition while covid hit, so when ActiveSG released the invitation to the tournament, they were eager to get back into that frame of mind and get that W.
Could they cause some big upsets in the knockout rounds? I wouldn’t bet against them. Watch this space.
Who’s going to get it? Shakur attempting to block Helzer’s many attempts to dunk. PHOTO: KIN PRODUCTIONS
Finally, we round out this week with what could be the pre-Central Zone Final as Team Proform Gold ended their group stages against the team in second place, Team FriedFood.
We were not disappointed as we witnessed a basketball game filled with good hustle, great shots and intense defending from both teams. You had individual matchups with Eugimiel going up against Zach while Rajata and Shakur were going on a battle of their own.
You did not want this game to end, but when it did, Proform Gold came on top 12-11 continuing their unbeaten form going into the quarters. All I can say is that with a scoreline like that, this one most definitely needs a re-run.
ActiveSG Cup 2022 Basketball 3x3
Full Results from Sun, 6 March 2022
Central Zone, Boys U16 Group B
ActiveSG Clementi Sport Hall
BBB 13–10 4KTREY
Proform White 4-16 Team 828
Proform Black 3-8 Siglap Team 3
Team Marcus 6-11 Sky Scrapers
USSR 7-14 sg-Lions1
Team 828 13-8 BBB
Siglap Team 3 11-7 4KTREY
Sky Scrapers 19-8 Proform White
sg-Lions1 10-15 Proform Black
USSR 2-21 Team Marcus
BBB 22-10 Siglap Team 3
Team 828 10-6 Sky Scrapers
4KTREY 17-12 sg-Lions1
Proform White 7-13 USSR
Proform Black 9-7 Team Marcus
Central Zone, Boys U19 Group B
ActiveSG Clementi Sport Hall
Team Rhoades 8-10 Rice n Shine
Proform Gold 11-3 TSB
Doubleoreo 20-0 (WO) The Outramians
Friedfood 20-0 (WO) Proform Red
Team Rhoades 14-7 TSB
sg-Lions1 14-8 cd
Proform Gold 21-3 Doubleoreo
The Outramians (WO) 0-20 MICE
Rice n Shine 20 – 0 (WO) Proform Red
Team Rhoades 10-21 Friedfood
The Outramians (WO) 0-20 sg-Lions1
Galaxy 13-12 MICE
Proform Red (WO) 0-20 Proform Gold
cd 9-22 Friedfood
Galaxy 15-8 Rice N Shine
MICE 14-7 TSB
Proform Gold 12-11 Friedfood
The Outramians (WO) 0-20 cd
TSB 11-9 Doubleoreo
Rice N Shine 11-6 sg-Lions1
Team Rhoades 4-11 Galaxy
Mice 20-0 (WO) Proform Red
About Basketball 3x3, ActiveSG Cup 2022
The ActiveSG Cup 2022 is a basketball tournament for youths 15-19 years-old. The Central and East Zones are organised by KIN Productions, with a centralised venue playing host to the qualifiers in each zone.
ActiveSG Clementi Sport Centre is the centralised venue for the Central Zone and ActiveSG Pasir Ris Sport Centre is the official venue for the East Zone.
The top two teams from each zone will qualify for the Super League, while the teams that rank third and fourth will qualify for the Prime League, with these taking place on 18 and 19 March, before a Grand Final to finish off the ActiveSG Cup action at Our Tampines Hub on 20 March.