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 HS is ready to avenge for its championship game loss last year and go for its sixth title in school history in the 2012 HBL men's Final Four, which will be played today and tomorrow at the National Taiwan University Gymnasium.
A total of eight men's and women's teams will meet in the semifinal today.
Song-shan HS, which completed an unprecedented three-peat last season, was unable to reach quarterfinal this season. Hujiang HS, last season's women's titlist, finished fifth place in the quarterfinal round and failed to reach the final four.
Hu Lung-mao of Song-shan and Chang Chi-fang of Hu-jiang were named 2011 HBL men's and women's Most Valuable Players after leading their schools to titles Sunday.
Chang also led the women's competition in assists and steals while Hu was the rebounding leader in the men's competition.
The 2011 HBL awards are listed below.
Men's:
MVP: Hu Lung-mao (Song-shan)
Freshman of the Year: Huang Hung-han (Nen-ren)
Rebounding leader: Hu Lung-mao (Song-shan)
Assists leader: Chen Ying-chun (Nen-ren)
Steals leader: Chiu Jih-cheng (Nan-shan)
Blocks leader: Chen Kuan-chuan (Nan-shan)
Women's:
MVP: Chang Chi-fang (Hu-jiang)
Freshman of the Year: Huang Ling-chuan (Hai-shan)
Rebounding leader: Cheng Yi-hsiu (Pu Men)
Assists leader: Chang Chi-fang (Hu-jiang)
Steals leader: Chang Chi-fang (Hu-jiang)
Blocks leader: Han Ya-en (Tamsui)
Chang Chi-fang saved the best for her last game as a high schooler. The 174cm all-around guard scored a HBL-record 45 points to go with 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead Hu-jiang High School upset favorite Hai-shan High School 87-73 and win its first HBL title in school history Sunday.
Chang scored 31 points in the first half and single-handedly paced her school throughout the entire game. She won the MVP by averaging 34 points, eight rebounds and three steals in two games in the Final Four.
Chang, who idolizes Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics, was 16 of 27 from the field, including 14 of 22 from the two-point range, and eight of nine from the free-throw line in 39 minutes Sunday night, played down her scoring record, saying that it was the championship that matters.
Chang smashed the previous single game scoring record in the Final Four of 40 points established by former Hai-shan center Liu Yi-chun.
Hai-shan, which had won three straight titles from 2006-2008, missed out on its opportunity for the fourth title in school history. Its "Twin Centers" Huang Hsiang-ting had 23 points and 9 rebounds and Wang Wei-lin tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds. Point guard Chen Yen-yu had 17 points.
There was another upset in the third place game, where Jin-ou High School overcame a 14-point deficit to knock down defending champion Tamsui High School 57-56 to secure its best finish in five years.
Jin-ou, which was out of the final eight last season to see its consecutive final eight appearance record end after 21 years, also snapped its seven-game losing streak against the mighty Tamsui.
The defending champ, which led 35-21 at halftime, engaged in a dog-fight with Jin-ou in the final minutes but failed to make a basket in two possessions in the final 26.1 seconds.
Having won six titles, Jin-ou was once the most powerful team in high school women's basketball, but it was unable to win one after 2004.
Lin Yi-chun led Jin-ou with 19 points and eight rebounds while Chang Yu-wen had 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and seven steals.
Tamsui's Lin Yu-ting, the freshman of the year and the MVP last year, had 20 points and 12 rebounds.
MVP Hu Lung-mao had dominant performances on consecutive nights as Song-shan High School completed a unprecedented feat of a three-peat after a 87-59 rout of Nan-shan High School Sunday night, becoming the first school in HBL history to win three straight men's title.
Li-chi HS, San-min HS, Tsai-shin HS and Nan-shan HS have all repeated as champions in the past 22 years, but no school was able to complete a three-peat until Song-shan did it.
Hu, a 195cm lefty forward-center, was named the MVP with an average of 32 pints and 13.5 rebounds in two Final Four games.
Song-shan has won three titles in four Finals appearances. It lost to San-min in the finals in 2000 before defeating Nen-ren 69-61 and 83-80 in 2009 and 2010.
Hu also became the first player to lead his high school to three title in three years. He played pivotal roles in Song-shan's previous title runs despite not winning the MVPs. Forward Hung Kang-chao scored 48 points in his last high school game last year to win the MVP honor. San yi-ching, a undersized 193cm center, was named MVP after a 16-point, 6 rebounds title game outing in 2009.
"We have made history and this group of players deserve this honor. I'm proud of them, " Song-shan head coach Huang Wan-long said. Huang and Hu were both in tears in their long hugs after the final buzzer.
Song-shan, which has been known for its tenacious man-to-man defense, lived up to its nickname "the green shield" again in the second quarter, when it outscored Nan-shan 25-4 and jumped to a double-digit lead it never gave up.
Song-shan sophomore center Fan Shih-en had a career night of 16 points and 6 rebounds. Guards Huang Po-wei and Yu Yi-hsiang scored 15 each.
Yang Hsing-chih paced Nan-shan with 19 points.
In the third place game, talented point guard Chen Ying-chun had 23 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and two blocks to finish his high school career and lead Nen-ren to a 82-70 win over San-min High School.
However, Chen had to graduate without a HBL title trophy in his hands. Nen-ren lost to Song-shan in the HBL Finals in 2009 and 2010 and failed to make the finals after the semifinal loss to Nan-shan Saturday night.
Chen, who suffered a minor concussion in the semifinal game, was determined to play in his final game despite doctors and coaches advised him against it. "I refused to sit on the bench in my final game, " Chen was quoted as saying.
With Chen controling the tempo, Nen-ren led by as many as 22 points as San-min never had a chance to mount a serious comeback run.
Center Wang Jen-chieh had 28 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks for Nen-ren. Tien Cheng-tung had 11 points and eight boards.
San-min, the only final four teams from southern Taiwan, was led by Wu Song-wei's 30 points. Center Shih Yen-tsung had 19 points and 15 rebounds.
(Photos: HBL, UDN, Apple Daily)
Hu Lung-mao scored 18 of his game-high 35 points in the third quarter as two-time defending champion Song-shan HS rallied in the second half to beat San-min HS 97-81 Saturday in the 2011 HBL men's semifinal and advanced to the HBL finals for the third straight year where it will meet Nan-shan HS Sunday.
With eight seniors on its roster, Song-shan will be more experienced than Nan-shan, a traditional powerhouse which is seeking its sixth title in HBL history.
Song-shan head coach Huang Wan-lung's halftime speech inspired Hu, arguably the best player in the HBL. Hu scored as many points as San-min in the third quarter and turned a seven-point deficit into a rout.
Nan-shan led from start to finish in a 78-70 victory over Nen-ren, which was seeking its third straight HBL finals appearance, but did not win without a scare.
Leading by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, Nan-shan had no answer against Nen-ren's three-point attack and saw its lead shrink to a mere three points in the final quarter.
Song-shan 97-81 San-min
Song-shan: Hu Lung-mao 35p+13rb+2s, Huang Po-wei 19p, Chien Chao-yi 15p
San-min: Shih Yen-tsung 20p+10rb+3blk, Lin Kuan-ren 23p+6rb
Nan-shan 78-70 Nen-ren
Nan-shan: Chen Kuan-chuan 20p+11rb, Chiu Jih-cheng 13p, Wu Chia-chun 12p
Nen-ren: Chen Yi-chun 18p+7rb+9a+3s, Tien Chen-tung 24+8rb(6-12 3PT), Chen Hung-lin 10p+10rb
In the women's competition, Hai-shan beat Jin-ou 80-57 and Hu-jiang upset defending champ Tamsui 85-81 in overtime Saturday.
Led by backup guard Shen Shin, who had 8 points and seven steals in 21 minutes, Hu-jiang snapped its 12-game losing streak against Tamsui to make its first ever HBL finals appearance in school history.
Waiting for Hu-jiang in the finals will be Hai-shan, which is looking for its fourth title in history in its seventh finals appearance.
Hai-shan 80-57 Jin-ou
Hai-shan: Huang Hsiang-ting 21p+11rb+4blk, Wang Wei-ling 14p+15rb+2blk, Chen Yen-yu 16p+6rb+5a+2s+2blk
Jin-ou: Chen Ting-yu 13p
Hu-jiang 85-81 (OT) Tamsui
Hu-jiang: Chang Chi-fang 23p+6rb+6a+2s, Chen CHun-wei 19p+8rb+7s, Shen Shin 8p+7s
Tamsui: Lin Yu-ting 25p+5rb+6a, Yang Jung 22p+14rb, Han Chun-en 13p+8rb
[Picture: Hu Lung-mao, Song-shan HS]
Two-time defending champion Song-shan HS advanced to the semifinal round after defeating Nan-shan HS in the last game of the quarterfinal round to finish No. 1 with a 6-1 record.
Center-forward Hu Lung-mao had 22 points, 12 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocks and guard Chien Chao-yi added 12 points in the 65-59 win on Jan. 9.
Song-shan HS is scheduled to meet the No. 4 seed San-min HS in the semifinal, which will be played Feb. 26, while No. 2 seed Nan-shan HS will take on third-seeded Nen-ren HS, which has lost in the HBL finals to Song-shan HS in the last two years, in the other semi match.
Song-shan beat San-min in the quarterfinal round as Hu scored 42 points. The matchup of Hu and San-min center Shih Yen-tsung will be a sight to watch in the semi. Nan-shan beat Nen-ren 79-64 in the round robin quarterfinal.
Men's quarterfinal standing:
1. Song-shan HS 6-1
2. Nan-shan HS 5-2
3. Nen-ren HS 4-3
4. San-min HS 4-3
5. Tai-shan HS 4-3
6. Nan-hu HS 3-4
7. Hsin-jung HS 2-5
8. Youth HS 0-7
In the women's group, top seed Hai-shan HS will meet Jin-ou HS in the semifinal while defending champion Tamsui HS, the No. 2 seed, will meet Hu-jian HS in the other match.
Women's quarterfinal standing:
1. Hai-shan HS 7-0
2. Tamsui HS 6-1
3. Hu-jian HS 5-2
4. Jin-ou HS 4-3
5. Nan-hu HS 3-4
6. Taipei First Girls' HS 2-5
7. Pu Men HS 1-6
8. An-le HS 0-7
Chien Chao-yi, Song-shan HS
Wang Tai-chieh, Tai-shan HS
Chen Ying-chun, Nen-ren HS
(Photos: HBL)
Rank, School, Last season
A1 Hsin-jung HS, didn't make final eight
A2 Nan-shan HS, 3rd place
A3 Nen-jen HS, Runner-up
B1 Tai-shan HS, 4th place
B2 Song-shan HS, Champion
B3 Youth HS, didn't make final eight
Wildcard Nan-hu HS, didn't make final eight
WIldcard San-min HS, 6th place
(Photos: Apple Daily)
6-3 shooting guard Lee Chi-wei is on Team Asia in this week's Adidas Nation tournament.
Adidas Nations brings together the top 18 and under basketball players to compete in an international exhibition under the guidance of highly esteemed NBA veterans, coaches and players. Individually selected teams from the US, Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia will all compete in Chicago August 5th – 9th.
2010 Team Asia
# Player Pos. Height Country
1 Yang Jinmeng PG 6'2" China
2 Li Qingxiang PG 6'2" China
3 Zhou Qi C 7'0" China
4 Ge Zhaobao C 7'0" China
5 Xing Zhiqiang WF 6'6" China
6 Heng Yifeng WF 6'4" China
7 Wei Zhengxian SG 6'5 China
8 Si Yuheng SG 6'4" China
9 Hu Yihan SG 6'2" China
10 Liu Zhixuan WF 6'4" China
11 Steven Adams F 6'10" New Zealand
12 Lee Chi-Wei SG 6'3" Taiwan
Head Coach: Frank Johnson: 14 -year NBA veteran; Former Head Coach, Phoenix Suns
Assistant Coaches: Chris Rivers and Li Ren
NBA Mentor: Robin Lopez (Phoenix Suns)
Taishan High School's 190cm senior forward Chou Yi-hsiang was considered one of two brightest stars in Taiwan's high school ball this year. The other one is 194cm sophomore forward Hu Lung-mao of Song-shan High School. Chou helped Tai-shan to its best finish in school history (4th place) while Hu helped Song-shan to win two straight titles.
Chou has an explosive first-step and jumping ability. He can shoot and dash. Pretty much a do-it-all player in high school basketball, Chou was seen as the second coming of Chen Hsin-an, one of Taiwan's top players in recent years.
Songshan High School repeated as Taiwan's high school boys basketball champion, beating Nen-ren High School in the final for the second consecutive year.
Hung Kang-chao scored 48 points in his final game in high school and led Song Shan High School to a 83-80 comeback victory over Nen-ren Houshold and Commercial Vocation High School to repeat as Taiwan high school's boys basketball champion Saturday.
Thanks to Hung's championship-record offensive output, Song Shan overcame a 11-point third quarter deficit and rallied in the final period for the win, beating Nen-ren in a 2009 HBL (High School Basketball League) championship rematch.
Hung, a senior forward, made 17 of his 28 field goal attempts and 14 of 19 free-throws. He also grabbed 11 rebounds and had 4 steals and two blocked shots in 40 minutes. No other Song Shan player scored in double figures.
The defending champion which has been known for its tenacious man-to-man defense lived up to its nickname "the green shield, " forcing nine turnovers from Nen-ren in the fourth period and tied the game at 80 all with 23.9 seconds remaining before Hung made three of four free-throws to secure the win.
Nen-ren, which lost to Song Shan in the HBL championship game for the second consecutive year, was led by Wang Jen-chieh's 25 points and 11 rebounds and point guard Chen Ying-chun's 13 points, 9 rebounds and 11 assists.
In girls' competition, Tamsui Vocation High School beat defending champion Pu Men High School for its first title in three years and the seventh title in school history. Tamsui surpassed Jinou Girls High School as the only seven-time champion in HBL girls' competiton.
Tamsui forward Lin Yu-ting became the first player in history to win Freshman of the Year and the Most Valuable Player awards in the same season.
Hung Kang-chao
Tamsui wins its 7th girls title
Song-shan repeats
Lin Yu-ting
(Photos: UDN.com, CNA, )
Defending men's champion Song-shan High School is limping its way into the 2010 HBL men's final four, finishing fourth in the quarterfinal round, while the defending women's champion Pu Men High School cruised into the women's final four, tied with Ha-shan High School at 6-1 in the quarterfinal round.
The single-elimination final four will take place in the National Taiwan University Gymnasium from March 19-20.
Men's semifinal matchup:
#1 Nan-shan HS vs. #4 Song-shan HS
#2 Nen-jen HS vs. #3 Tai-shan HS
Women's semifinal matchup:
#1 Pu Men HS vs. #4 Hujiang HS
#2 Hai-shan HS vs. #3 Tamsui Vocational HS
Three of four men's semifinalists from last season -- Song-shan, Nan-shan and Nen-jen -- return to the final four this year.
Three women's final four teams -- Pu Men, Hai-shan and Hujiang -- also made the semifinal for the socond consecutive year. Tamsui Vocational HS, which finished sxith last year, return to the final four this season and is eyeing its 7th HBL women's title in school history.
Men's quarterfinal round standing:
1. Nan-shan HS 6-1
2. Nen-jen HS 5-2
3. Tai-shan HS 4-3
4. Song-shan HS 4-3
5. Kao-yuan HS 4-3
6. San-min HS 3-4
7. San-chung Commercial and Industrial Vocational HS 1-6
8. Chiang-shu HS 1-6
Women's quarterfinal round standing:
1. Pu Men HS 6-1
2. Hai-shan HS 6-1
3. Tamsui Vocational HS 5-2
4. Hujiang HS 4-3
5. Taipei First Girls' HS 3-4
6. Nan-hu HS 2-5
7. Yang-ming HS 2-5
8. Miaoli Vocational HS 0-7
(Photos: Apple Daily)
186cm sophomore guard/forward Froeschi Louis is expected to lead Pintung High School in the second round of Taiwan's High School Basketball League (HBL) in its quest for the lost glory.
After sitting out his freshman season, Louis made an immediate impact this year, leading the league with 21 points per game in the preliminary round. Starting today, he will try to take Pintung HS to the elite eight.
Before all these, however, Louis became famous because he looks a lot like the U.S. President Barack Obama. Check out these photos.
Louis, who has an Austrian father and a South African mother, came to Taiwan with his parents in 1998 after his father decided to move here to study Buddhism. Louis enrolled in a junior high school established by a Buddhism organization and became, like his father, a vegetarian and found his love for basketball.
Later he transferred to Chih-cheng Junior High which has long been known for its basketball program. He didn't get to play in his freshman year in Pingtung HS because of the HBL has a player registration maximum and he was not ready to play.
I'm not sure what kind of player Louis will be, but he's definitely an interesting player to watch.
(Photo source: Apple Daily, UDN.com, CNA, Liberty Times)
Imagine that you have a father who was at one point known as "one of the best forwards in Asia" and now you're playing high school ball. The comparison is inevitable.
That was what happened to 16-year-old Cheng Chih-kwan, whose father Cheng Chih-lung has been known as one of the best small forward in Asia and teamed with Yao Ming prior to Yao's NBA career in Shanghai Sharks.
Calling Cheng, who is currently coaching Taiwan Mobile in the SBL, "Taiwanese version of Michael Jordan" is no exaggeration. He led Taiwan to an all-time best runner-up finish in the 1986 Asian Junior Championship as a teenager and later starred in the now-defunct pro league CBA (Chinese Basketball Alliance, 1994-1999), leading Hung-kuo Elephants to three straight titles under American coach Paul Coughter during the second half of the 1990's.
Cheng Chih-kwan was featured in an article by the Central News Agency on Monday. The 185cm (visibly closer to 180cm) high school freshman was playing for defending HBL champion Song-shan High School in the Asian U-16 Championship trial, which will name U-16 NT after the trial tournament.
The junior Cheng looks like a young Cheng Chih-lung but is still raw. What kind of basketball will he be remains to be seen. Give the credit to the elder Cheng though. He put his son in good hands. Song-shan HS head coach Huang Wan-long was known for stressing fundamental, defense and the right attitude.
(Photo: CNA)
Watch Song-shan High School Basketball in Sports | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
This is a 15-minute short documentary about Song-shan High School basketball team made by NIKE Taiwan during -- I guess -- the 2007 season.
As Song-shan HS won its first HBL title in school history last week, it was special at this moment to take a look back at the film that documented the lowest point of its basketball program.
Long known as a basketball powerhouse in Taiwan men's high school basketball circle, Song-shan HS was out of the final eight in 2006. The poor finish and the HBL game format made the 2006 Song-shan HS team the second squad in school history that had to start its season in the qualification round.
The team finished for 5th-place that year, the same placing as in 2008. And you know the rest of the story. Song-shan, the school that had to play the qualifying round in 2007, was finally on the top of the HBL.
The story of a Cinderella team winning three games in three days for an improbable crown did not materialize. Yang-ming HS came up one win short of the making of an amazing story, losing 73-48 to Pu Men High School in HBL women's title game Sunday.
Pu Men dominated the game with its height advantage from start to finish. The southern school led 37-15 at halftime and never let Yang-ming get close. In fact, Pu Men HS was also a Cinderella team, winning a title six years after the school was established by a wealthy Buddhism organization. It made its first final four appearance just last year.
Center Chang Yi-lin had 22 points and 8 rebounds and received the MVP honor. Forward Wei Yu-chun had 26 points, shooting 6-of-10 from three.
The title was of course special for the players, but it's even more special for Pu Men head coach Lee Heng-shu, a former South Korean national who won Olympic Silver before coming to Taiwan for developing her professional career. Lee later became a head coach and now speaks fluent Mandarin.
The monkey was finally off their backs. Song-shan High School used a 8-0 run in the last two minutes en route to a 69-61 victory over Nen-jen HS in the HBL championship game and won its first ever HBL title in school history.
Song-shan finished the season 16-0 and gave head coach Huang Wan-long his first title ring in 12 years with the Taipei City school.
Which was a disgrace for a school that has been known for hard-nosed defense and has produced famous alumni like Chen Hsin-an, who was at the game Sunday night to show his support. Somehow, Song-shan always lost on buzzer-beaters, untimely losses and missed free-throws.
With a 13-point lead evaporated and the game tied at 61 all, Song-shan players showed a soldout crowd how determined they wanted to bring home the title this time. San Yi-ching scored on an offensive rebound before Shih Jin-yao's 3-pointer and Lu Kwan-liang's fastbreak layup. Shih then made one of two free-throws.
The scoring spurt in 60 seconds decided the outcome and put a footnote on Song-shan's spectacular undefeated season. This time they brought their A game when it mattered most. No more missed free-throws and outside shots. No more letdowns.
However, it seemed Song-shan was going to have another breakdown in the second half. "The Green Shield, " the school's nickname for its tenacious man-to-man defense, led 39-26 early in the third quarter but Nen-jen point guard Chen Kuei-hsiang drained four threes to make the game interesting.
Chen finished with 25 points, five boards, four assists and two steals while freshman phenom Chen Ying-jun scored 23. The "Chen combo" combined for 48 of Nen-jen's 61 points.
Hu Lung-mao, Song-shan's another undersized center at 190cm, scored 12 points to go with two blocks. Shih Jin-yao added 6 points and five rebounds.
I still remember watching Song-shan players crying in the locker room after one of those heartbreaking losses. That is why my heart goes out for Song-shan boys and Huang Wan-long, a friend of mine. After all these years of blood, sweat and tears, they deserved this trophy. No more heartbreaks.
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A NIKE banner saying “Dominate”.
![Image_0322-1948(緯來體育台)[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQdQg-2-tIkBrRhdP5qdv_qlzAjz-wX67p6OzUTaAeyHGE0tDdLnrddqZBRsVq0uWa-IzuZcyUjVeZgeEYL9b23Qi-2gKhEt3eHk0SOHSfUhOpbj9ukci2DAzUlPo-n4oLaxF4/s1600-h/Image_0322-1948(%C3%AF%C2%86%C3%94%C2%B2%C3%B0)%5B1%5D%5B3%5D.jpg "Image_0322-1948(緯來體育台)[1]")
HBL championship trophy and banner.
The Green Boys are enjoying their first title.
(Photos: UDN.com, Apple Daily, CNA, Liberty Times)
