Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL) won their first ever interoffice basketball championship in a most resounding fashion last weekend at the City Center, as they completed the two-game sweep over Home Protector/Brodies. The best of three championship series commenced last Friday night at the City Center, which saw BTL coming back late in the fourth quarter to steal the 56-54 win from Home Protector/Brodies, who was enjoying a four-point lead with little over one minute remaining in regulation. However, critical turnovers and several blown lay-ups late in the fourth spelled the demise of Home Protector/Brodies. In contrast, BTL displayed aggression and renewed vigor, and in the closing seconds of the game, with the game tied at 54-54 and ball possession in favor of Home Protector/Brodies, BTL once again came up with the big steal, and veteran Bey Castillo was on the receiving end, and he knew exactly what to do with it. Do I hear “exclamation dunk!!!”, as the time expired. Final score, 56-54, and the crowd went wild.
On Sunday, BTL entered the game focused and determined to build on their momentum from Friday night, and in the opening act was able to take command of the game. Home Protector/Brodies, however, was not going to lie down, and so, despite being down for most of the night by an average of eight to nine points, through determination and will was able to pull to within three, 63-60, late in the fourth. But as the saying goes in basketball, “all teams will make a run”; the key is sustaining a run, and on this night Home Protector/Brodies could not sustain their run, resulting in BTL winning their first interoffice championship by the score of 71-65.
Individually, the league leading scorer was Ronald Alarcon of Aero Dispatch; he averaged 26.0 ppg, while Devon Lozano of BTL was the leading scorer in the playoffs, totaling 19.0 ppg. The award for sportsmanship of the year went to BEL’s Leon Young, while Bernard Aguet of BTL captured Coach of the Year honors. The Most Valuable Player award was captured by Edward Thompson from BTL.
On Sunday, the IBL also had its three-pointer shootout and its All Star game. Kendis “Pippen” Ferguson, from a field of nine, won the three-pointer shootout over Bradsford Peters, and for his effort won a cell phone, courtesy of Smart. In the All Star game, it was division A winning over division B by the score of 68-41. Keith “Dos” Pollard from division A was the game “MVP”, as he led his team with 18 pts. Division B was led by Devon Defour and Gregory Williams, scoring 14 pts each.