(Cancelled and possibly postponed): Fri. Jan. 27: San Pedro Tiger Sharks vs Belmopan Red Taigaz; Sat. Mar. 25: San Pedro Tiger Sharks vs Benny’s Hurricanes (San Pedro High School)
Results and Schedule
Fri. May 12: Belize City Defenders 71, San Pedro Tiger Sharks 79 (Belize City Civic Centre); Belmopan Red Taigaz 102, Belize Hurricanes 95 (UB Gym).
Sat. May 13: Western Ballaz 71, Griga Dream Ballers 113 (Russell Chiste Garcia Auditorium); Punta Gorda Panthers 62, Orange Walk Running Rebels 122 (Toledo Sporting Complex).
BELIZE CITY, Mon. May 15
As of press time today (4:00 p.m.), the Belize Elite Basketball League’s commissioner’s office has not made any official announcement regarding several key issues, rulings and the schedule of the playoffs.
The BEBL regular season was scheduled to have concluded last Saturday night, but there is the matter of 3 back matches that are apparently in official limbo, even though San Pedro Tiger Sharks has begun advertising that its back match with the Benny’s Belize Hurricanes be played on Saturday, May 21st at the Angel Nunez Stadium in San Pedro.
The BEBL and its media associate, the broadcasting network Nex/Gen, have been advertising that the All-Star Game will be held on Saturday, May 20th at the Russell Chiste Garcia Auditorium in Dangriga starting at 9:00 p.m.
Today, the BEBL announced via its new website that voting had closed, and that 4 Hurricanes and 2 San Pedro Tiger Sharks players had been selected for the 24-man roster to play on the 2 (two) All-Star teams, and that there would be a live draft by the 2 captains tomorrow, Tuesday.
There have been no reports of any official decision regarding the scheduling of the other two back matches, a postponed Tiger Sharks vs Belmopan Red Taigaz opener and a replay of the Orange Walk vs Defenders game 2 weeks ago as ordered by the BEBL’s Disciplinary Committee which upheld a protest by the Running Rebels.
AMANDALA’s Defenders’ sources are saying that they will likely not play the game again unless their expenses are paid up front, as a start. The Defenders lost last Friday night 79-71 to the San Pedro Tiger Sharks at the Belize City Civic Centre and may not make the tournament’s playoffs as a result, regardless of a positive outcome of any replay with the Rebels.
They are re-examining their options, including possible legal action in the Belize courts, because the BEBL does not have either a Protest Committee or an Appeal Committee.
The San Pedro Tiger Sharks would currently hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Defenders, having won both their regular season games. If they should win both of their back matches, they would finish with a 9-5 record and in a statistical tie for second place.
Theirs is a remarkable turnaround having lost 4 of their first 5 games which they played on the road. It is widely expected that the Hurricanes will not play their imports in the back match, and so San Pedro is heavily favored to win.
Their other back match opponent, the Belmopan Taigaz are mired in second to last place. They, however, beat the Hurricanes last Friday night in an emotional game in which their guests did not play their imports. The game was the last of Stephen “Muerte” Williams’s career, and he went out in a blaze of glory, scoring a BEBL and semi-pro basketball record 11 3-pointers.
Griga Dream Ballers blew out the Western Ballaz, 113-71, ensuring that they will at least finish in a tie for second place. Although they did not play their big man import, Dominic Woodson, the Ballaz only brought, suited up and played 7 men, having sent back their imports and the team having endured a major dispute between two of their players.
The hapless Punta Gorda Panthers could only suit up 8 players in their 122- 62 home loss to the Orange Walk Rebels, one of whom was a rookie who never got off the bench. They ended a miserable 1-13 campaign that includes a historic 10-game losing streak.