Nan-shan HS revenged its bitter loss last year in the HBL finals against Song-shan HS yesterday. This time it routed Nen-jen HS 72-55 in the title game to win its sixth men's championship in school history.
Meanwhile, Taipei First Girls' HS, one of the best girls' high schools in the nation academically-wise, shocked everyone with its 75-67 win in overtime to claim its first women's HBL title in school history.
Nan-shan did not give Nen-jen any chance Sunday night, leading from start to finish and took the game out of reach with a 25-9 third period.
The “twin tower” of Nan-shan each turned in a double-double performance with MVP Yang Hsin-chih tallying 19 points and 11 rebounds and Chen Kuan-chuan collecting 19 and 14.
Lee Kun-yu was the only Nen-jen player in double-digit scoring with 11 points.
Nen-jen lost for the third time in the last four years in the HBL finals. It lost in 2009 and 2010 to Song-shan.
In the women's title game, Chang Yu-han banked in a three-pointer with 10.8 seconds left in regulation to take the game into overtime before Taipei First Girls' HS controlled the momentum and upset Pu Men for a win that shocked the nation with the First Lady Chow Mei-ching – a TFGHS alum – looking on in the stands.
The win, which helped the school to its first title in 15 years, was not easy, considering that TFGHS, which entered the final four as the No. 3 seed, was routed by Pu Men 70-38 three weeks ago in the quarterfinal round.
Chueh Yu-hsuan led TFGHS with 16 points and tournament MVP Chang Yu-han had 15 points, 7 rebounds and 6 steals.
Cheng Yi-hsiu led Pu Men with 26 and 10 and Feng Hsin-lien added
Results of the semifinal on March 3:
Men's
Nan-shan HS 69-43 Keelung Commercial and Industrial Vocational HS
Nen-jen HS 67-53 Chiang-shu HS
Women's
Pu Men HS 67-48 Chih-ping HS
TFGHS 79-73 Tamsui HS
Men's awards:
MVP: Yang Hsin-chih (Nan-shan)
Freshman of the Year: Liu Jen-hao (Nen-jen)
Rebounding leader: Chen Kuan-chuan (Nan-shan)
Assist leader: Chiu Jih-cheng (Nan-shan)
Steal leader: Chiu Jih-cheng (Nan-shan)
Block leader: Lee Chia-jui (Keelung Commercial and Industrial Vocational HS)
Women's award:
MVP: Chang Yu-han (TFGHS)
Freshman of the Year: Cheng Yu-chieh (TFGHS)
Rebounding leader: Chen Wei-an (Yung-jen)
Assist leader: Lin Yu-ting (Tamsui)
Steal leader: Huang Yu-ting (Pu Men)
Block leader: Chen Wei-an (Yung-jen)
Men's final standings:
1. Nan-shan HS
2. Nen-jen HS
3. Keelung Commercial and Industrial Vocational
4. Chiang-shu HS
5. Hsin-jung HS
6. Youth HS
7. Yilan HS
8. Tai-shan HS
Women's final standings:
1. Taipei First Girls' HS
2. Pu Men HS
3. Tamsui HS
4. Chih-ping HS
5. Hu-jiang HS
6. Yung-jen HS
7. Jin-ou HS
8. Yang-ming HS
(Photos: HBL, UDN.com)