It was a warm evening on 8 June 2009 on the basket ball courts of Mountbatten Community Club. The Filipino Fellowship of City Harvest Church (CHC) sneak-started their celebration of the Philippines Independence Day (12 June) with two basketball matches.
The first game of the evening pitted the hosts against a mixed team consisting of new friends and church members from Jesus Christ Deliverer Church.
Among the guests of honor were Ray Quiñones from the Vice Counsel and Socorro Castro from the Welfare office, who officially opened the evening’s event.
The first match started in a blistering pace, having the first pointer scored by the guest team after only 7 seconds. The teams were evenly matched, but in the end, the guest team revealed their deadlier form with the final score being 82-61 to the guest team.
The Filipino Fellowship provided half-time entertainment in the form of a dance performance and handing a plaque of appreciation to the guest team. The second half of the evening was the highlight with the CHC pastoral team entering the court.
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The pastoral team donned a more cautious but powerful approach, relying on their strength and height; the home team adopted a more fast-paced and counter-attacking approach in a bid to wear the opponent out.
The first pointer was scored after one minute, by the pastoral team captained by Derek Dunn, Executive Pastor of CHC. The home team promptly returned, winning a foul and scoring the first penalty of the game. With excitement building, the pastoral team dominated in the penalty box with taller and more powerful players, building their game up slowly but safely, and won the match through their superior dribbling skills and swift counter-attacks. The final score was 50-41.
Both team captains responded very positively to the evening’s match.
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| PHOTOS: Lee Boon Bee | |
“I think both teams did really well with good sportsmanship. Everyone just came together to play and have fun, which is what the sport is all about. The organizers did an excellent job in putting this whole event together,” said Dunn.
“Everybody did great; the sportsmanship of the teams added to the atmosphere of camaraderie of the entire night,” noted Jordan Mirandilla, 42, swimming coach and home team captain.
The main organizer of the evening’s event, Rick Arao, was very pleased and happy that everybody could fellowship and enjoy one another’s company.
