SSSBL D1 Women’s Final

SHSID Stallions 62 - 37 KCIS Gators

On Jan 13, with the Girls' team tipping off at 13:00, the Stables slowly filled up with fans to support their respective teams. The game started off slow with Maria Mao from the Gators scoring the first three points of the game from the three point line. The Stallions would come back quickly however as #33 Irune Eceiza scored a layup and Joy Xu tied the game by making a free throw shot to tie it at 3-a-piece. As the first quarter ended, the Stallions held a 11 point lead at 20-9 as they showed some good teamwork through their passing on offence and suffocating full court press on the defensive end. With #9 Joyce Huo’s rebounds, #12 Liya Merritt’s steals, and #99 Helen Sun’s pin-point passes, the Stallions were able to share the ball around and create easy scoring opportunities.

As the second quarter started, the Gators connected on a couple of layups within the first few minutes, but the Stallions quickly stopped them there as they upped their defense game. The Stallions would continue to score and draw fouls from the opponents as they put the Gators in the penalty. Isabella Qian was also on hand to contribute on the glass and making a couple of layups to pull the score difference even larger. The first half ended with the Stallions owning a 21 point lead with Liya, Joy and Irune combining for 37 out of the 41 total points.

The third quarter started with the subs playing in to let the starters get some well-earned rest. #1 Victoria Qian showed off her tight on-ball defense, limiting Gators point guard Maria Mao’s scoring. Seniors #15 Elizabeth Xu and #73 Chloe Gu would also show to be capable of handling the pressure of the big stage. However, as the scoring situation slowed down, the starters were put back on to furthermore secure the Stallions’ championship.

Finally, as the last 10 minutes of the game started the Stallions would put in their all to make sure they go home with the championship. #12 Liya Merritt would be assigned to Mao to minimize their offensive attack, and it proved to be beneficial. The Stallions carried on with how they played and as the buzzer went off, the Stallions would cheer to have won the 2023-2024 SSSBL Girls D1 Championship.

SSSBL D1 Mens Final

SHSID Stallions 73 - 60 KCIS Gators

Coming into the SSSBL Finals as the number one and two seeds respectively, the Stallions and Gators would face off in a clash of the titans match-up that had the attention of the hundreds of fans in attendance.

The Gators would start things off with a bang as Mike Jin cashed in from behind the arc. The Stallions would come back down the other end and move the ball systematically and get to the line repeatedly, consequently putting the Gators in early foul trouble. Recentless drives to the basket from guards Wesley Yu and Herman Lin would rack up points at the charity stripe and big back got the Stallions first points from the field on the board with a nice turn-around floater in the key. Wesley Yu would get the crowd on their feet as he bulldozed down the right wing and converted an 'and 1' to tie the game at 10-a-piece.

The second and-1 of the game would come from Herman Lin halfway through the 1st, taking a 22-14 point lead on the guests.

Jonathan Li was named SSSBL U19 2023-24 Regular Season MVP Award

In the second period the Gators would cash in on the first three-point shot of the game with Jerry Guo hitting from the right wing. This would be the first of 4 for Guo on the day.

The Stallions defence would continue to suffocate the Gators, forcing them into 43 turnovers on the day. Senior Leon Yu would make a huge hustle play, poking the ball lose from Mark Jin following a missed Herman Lin lay-up to give the game’s leading scorer another shot, in which he capitalised for 2 of his game high 22 points.

Not long after checking into the game, Gavin Zhao hit from the top of the 3pt line, followed by a bucket inside off of a Leon Yu dime to extend the lead to 11 points.

The Stallions would be without starting point guard Wesley Yu in the third quarter due to sitting with four fouls. This would mean that Leon Yu would start the second half in his place and he didn’t disappoint, penetrating and scoring a pair of layups right in the heart of KCIS’s defence right before Jonathan Li would snatch one of his six steals and convert a nasty and-1 on the other end after being undercut by a Gators defender.

With Wesley Yu checking back into the game in the 4th quarter he’d come out firing, hanging in the air on a sweet lay up in the first minute of the period, and later sending the crowd into a frenzy as he tore the net with a step back 3 leaving Mark Jin of the Gators to do nothing but hang his head as the Stallions put the nail in the coffin up 73-57 with 1 minute to go.

The Stallions celebrated the final buzzer with a 73-60 win and their second consecutive SSSBL championship. SHSID now owns 5 of the 8 total D1 Mens championships in the league’s history. Go Stallions!

(Written by PE Department Pictures by PE Department Edited/Supervised by Linxiang Wong Reviewed by Qian Zuo)