There will be no back to back champions this year in interoffice basketball. Aero Dispatch made sure of that with a convincing 71-45 win over the defending champs Belize Telemedia Ltd. (BTL) on Wednesday night in the 2008 sudden death semifinal round. The game was a game of two halves, and featured various runs by both teams. Some were sustained, while others were unsustainable. Aero Dispatch dictated the momentum of the game early, and as a result was able to get out of the gates first and took the signature 7-1 lead. The defending champs responded, following a jump shot by the veteran Byron “Shackles” Flowers, and a fast-break conversion by Devon Lozano, closing out the quarter trailing 14-7. Aided by their second quarter full court press, BTL went on an 8-3 run, tying the game at 17-17 with 5:05 remaining till halftime. However, a subsequent14-9 run by Aero Dispatch to close out the half, highlighted by the first of four dunks from Kurt “Chengo” Burgess, and the score at the half read 31-27 in favor of Aero Dispatch.
The third quarter, in Hoops News’ view, was the deciding quarter, and the quarter that spelled doom for BTL, as they could only muster a measly five points in the quarter. In contrast, Aero Dispatch had a breakout quarter, outscoring BTL 15-5. Burgess brought out his full arsenal, hitting two three pointers in the quarter; while point guard Kelvin Gillett wowed the huge crowd with a spectacular transition lay up, closing out the quarter with the commanding 61-40 lead. If the third quarter was the deciding quarter for Aero, the fourth quarter could be categorized as the “icing on the cake”, as Kurt “Chengo” Burgess placed his signature on the game with three consecutive monster dunks, as they outscored BTL 10-5 in the quarter, to post the 71-45 win. Kurt Burgess led his team with 14 pts 23 rebs 5 blocks 4 steals, while for BTL it was Devon Lozano scoring 14 pts in the loss.
With the win, Aero Dispatch now improves to 10-0 on the season, and now moves on to the finals, and will face BWS Pressure tonight at the City Center in game one of the best of three series. Meanwhile, for BTL, in their post mortem analysis they need not look further than the 10 points output in the second half of the contest. In playoff games, 10 points in a half will just not cut it. It is as simple as that.
In the other semifinal round game, BWS Pressure ended Central Bank Jabiru’s Cinderella run with a 54-41 trouncing of them. The game, which was close, 28-26 at the conclusion of the first half in favor of BWS, became a lopsided score following Central Bank’s 6-point third quarter output, which saw them being outscored 26-15 the rest of the way. Jamir Enriquez and Benson Matthews had 11 pts each in the win, while for the Jabiru’s it was Wilfred Richards with 11 pts.
With the win, BWS are once again in the finals, their second such appearance in the last four years. They are hoping that this year’s trip to the big dance will produce better results than in 2005, when they were swept in two games by Mesop Bombers. BWS will be entering this game as heavy underdogs, and will certainly need to play a perfect game, if they have any ambition of being named 2008 champs. Aero Dispatch will be a huge challenge and a daunting task for BWS. Breaking down the key match-ups, we have Aero Dispatch ahead at all key positions. Floyd “Bol” Talbert versus Benson Matthews, advantage Talbert. Kurt “Chengo” Burgess versus Karim Thompson, advantage Burgess. Kelvin “Kelly B” Gillett versus Fenton Noralez, advantage Gillett. Team chemistry, advantage Aero Dispatch. Hoops News pick, then, for champ is fairly simple; barring any unforeseen circumstances, we pick Aero Dispatch in two.
In other interoffice basketball notes, the league announced its individual awards this past Wednesday night. The league leading scorer was Belize Healthcare Partners Ltd Frank August, who averaged 18.9 ppg. Rico Black from Tuff E Nuff converted 2.25 made three pointers per game, while Kelvin Gillett from Aero Dispatch led the league in assist at a clip of 5.5 apg. Brodies’ Milo Ashley Hemsley led the league in steals, totaling 4.1 spg; while Lloyd Burgess from Belize Healthcare Partners led the league in rebounds with 15.6 per game. The defensive player of the year was awarded to Floyd “Bol” Talbert, who averaged 3.0 bpg. The Most Valuable Player award (MVP) was awarded to Belize City Council Kenroy Usher, who averaged 16 ppg 5.6 rpg and 2.9 spg; while Ms Salome Phillips was chosen Interoffice Basketball fan of the year.