WITH a navy-blue Champions cap on his head and a gold medal around his neck, Russel Low stood on the sweat-stained Jurong East Sports Hall basketball court and grinned as 240 of his schoolmates belted out a Happy Birthday song for him, twice.

The gangly 1.94m centre of Presbyterian High School turned 16 yesterday. And the day of celebration was most apt as Presbyterian High lifted the Schools National B Boys' basketball trophy after a six-year drought.

Schools' scorecard Basketball B Boys Presbyterian High School 54 New Town Secondary School 45 (PHS: Sean Wong, Russel Low, Ng Bing Yao, Jonathan Haryono, Goh Yao Ming, Koh Zhe Quan, Andrew Wong, Ng Jun Jie, Nathan Ng, Steven Teo, Benjamin Ng, Tan Jia Hui). (NTS: Lee Shi Jie, Trevor Goh, Lee Jie Loon, Hibshamir Ibrahim, Lee Shi Hao, Lor Weng Siang, Chua Hong Kai, Amir Irfan Shaik Mohamed Marecar, Hubert Neo, Isaac Seah, Er Chin Heng, Kuek Jun Jie). ... more

Said Russel: 'The win was a good birthday present. I'm very happy especially as it was a tough fight for us.'

They edged out first-timers New Town Secondary 54-45 in a frenetic, high-octane match that started cautiously.

Much was at stake for the teams - Presbyterian High had not featured in the B Boys' final since 2003, when they won the title, and it was New Town's first appearance in the final.

Powerhouses Catholic High, who had ruled the division since 2005, were eliminated in the quarter-finals this year.

With everything to play for, the pressure to win was immense on Russel and New Town's captain Lor Weng Siang.

Both were expected to inspire and spearhead the offence before their vociferous schoolmates, who numbered about 500.

The closely marked Russel was reduced to playing a supporting role - dishing out assists to sharpshooters Goh Yao Ming and Ng Bing Yao.

He said: 'It was very frustrating not being able to score as much as I wanted. I was marked tightly throughout.'

But Weng Siang, 17, was able to star for his team in attack and defence in a stirring performance of skill, strength and leadership.

He poured in 28 points and was named Most Valuable Player of the championships. Unfortunately, his heroics were not enough to save his team.

Said Presbyterian captain Jonathan Haryono: 'We were quite nervous at the start but woke up in the second half and started playing solidly even though New Town pressed us hard.

'We were very concerned about their accurate shooting and speed. But we managed to contain them and stop them from shooting three-pointers, which was our strategy for the match.'

Added Presbyterian's coach, Low Tong: 'New Town shocked us in the quarter-finals. Then, their three-pointers gave them a 17-point lead in just the first quarter alone. This time, we made sure to mark them tightly, so they could not shoot as many three-pointers. That made all the difference.'

While the Presbyterian bench overflowed with whoops of delight and high-fives at the final whistle, Weng Siang and his team trooped off solemnly.

He said: 'Our shooting wasn't accurate and, because of our height disadvantage, we lost out on rebounding as well. It's painful to lose the final.'

In the B Girls' final, Dunman Secondary defeated Chung Cheng High (Main) 49-46.

valchia@sph.com.sg