BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 6, 2012
On Saturday, August 4, 6 teams in the Men’s category and 5 teams in the U18 category from across the country participated in the Sprite/Belikin 3×3 Finals held at Jamborees.
In the Men’s category, teams were placed in two pools of three teams. In pool play, the team with the best record in each pool advances to the semifinal rounds. The remaining four teams then play each other to advance to the semifinal round.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Corozal team defeated the Orange walk team 15 to 10. The team from Corozal included Marcell Richards, Jason Grant, Alton Herrera and Benedict “Big Ben” Terry. Benedict was a force to reckon with the entire day. His post presence was superior on this day, and opposing teams couldn’t match up with him. A quick history of Big Ben shows that he grew up in Libertad and played for the UB Black Jaguars, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He recently returned from the University of Alabama with a Master’s degree in Accounting. He was also a member of the University of Alabama practice team.
The opposing team of Winston Pratt, Farron Louriano, Ryan Zuniga and Darren Bovell made a late run with 3 minutes in the second half to tie the game, but their legs seemed to give out in the remaining minutes. Jason Grant of Corozal played a big final game, scoring 7 of the 15 points.
In the U18 category, the Belize City team with four National Team players, including Devin Daly, easily defeated all four opponents, going undefeated for the day.
The format for this category was a round robin play in the first round, where the top four teams advanced to the semifinal round. Belize City defeated Belmopan 14 to 4 in the final game. National team player Akeem Watters gave a valiant effort, but was just outmatched by the strong team from Belize City.
Results of Finals tournament can be seen at 3x3planet.com.
The Corozal Men’s team will now make preparations to participate in the FIBA 3×3 World Tour in New York on August 18 and 19. A National Team will be selected to represent Belize in the U18 World Championship in Spain on September 27-29, 2012.