Photo: Brads Neal, an experienced and qualified coach, was the man in the middle of the Taigaz huddles.
Belize Elite Basketball League 2023 Tournament weekend results and schedule:
Fri. Mar 24: Orange Walk Running Rebels 73, Griga Dream Ballers 67 (OW Multi-Purpose Complex); Belize City Defenders 84, Belmopan Red Taigaz 71 (Belize Civic Centre).
Sat. Mar 25: CANCELLED San Pedro Tiger Sharks vs Benny’s Hurricanes (San Pedro High School); Punta Gorda Panthers 85, Western Ballaz 95 (Toledo Sports Complex).
Sat. Apr 1: ALL STAR BREAK HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO SATURDAY, MAY 19. – Slam Dunk Contest, Three Point Shooting Contest, All Star Game (Russell Chiste Garcia Auditorium)
Sat. Apr 7: E A S T E R W E E K E N D B R E A K.
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Mar. 27, 2023
There’s a new BEBL 2023 tournament co-leader since Orange Walk Running Rebels defeated the visiting Griga Dream Ballers 73-67 in a close game at the Orange Walk Town Multi-Purpose Complex last Friday night.
Griga had been one of the tournament’s co-leaders and both teams boasted a 4-game win streak. Both had picked up momentum after a slow start.
Neither team shot well, and were a combined 6-43 from deep. The Rebels’ leading scorers Hudson and Stanback, both of whom are among the tournament’s leading scorers, would finish with 16 and 23 points, respectively.
Derrick Morgan told AMANDALA today that in retrospect, “We didn’t make baskets. Defensively we were solid, held OW at 69 points for over 3 minutes, but missed layup after layup; plus, as was expected in a road game, we weren’t getting the foul calls when we went to the paint.”
Devon Campbell led the Dream Ballers with 21 points, while teammates Daniel Conorquie and Dominic Woodson contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Rebels held a narrow lead from early in the first quarter, and though the score was tied 5 times in the second, went into the halftime locker room with a one-point (41-40) lead.
They would out-score their visitors 26- 17 in the third and hold on for the hard fought 6-point victory at the end.
Troy Gabb, Jr., the Rebels head coach was still riding the high from the victory and looking forward to a road-heavy stretch run that means playing the Belize Hurricanes, Belmopan Red Taigaz and the San Pedro Tiger Sharks on the road, before returning home for a rematch with the Belize City Defenders at the friendly confines of the OW Multi-Purpose Complex. They will then complete the regular season by trekking south to play the Punta Gorda Panthers.
Griga Dream Ballers also has a road-heavy schedule ahead but will start at home next week against the Belmopan Red Taigaz at Russell Chiste Garcia Auditorium, before hitting the road to play the San Pedro Tiger Sharks, the Punta Gorda Panthers, the Benny’s Belize Hurricanes, and the Western Ballaz.
There is a game every weekend at the Belize Civic Centre except during the upcoming 2-week break, and unofficial reports are that the cancelled Belmopan Red Taigaz vs San Pedro opener will be played this Saturday as a result. AMANDALA has not been able to confirm that this is indeed the case.
The young Red Taigaz gave the Belize City Defenders everything and then some in their game last Friday night, but down the faithful fourth quarter stretch they faltered after leading most of the game.
There was no large crowd as an audience, but those who turned out were treated to one of the best games of the tournament. The game saw the competition between the Taigaz’ Jeremiah Toney and the Defenders’ Nigel Jones, two of the tournament’s leading scorers.
Toney finished with 15 points and Jones finished with 19, (9 points, 5 rebounds, and a steal in the pivotal fourth).
Belmopan led from around halfway through the first quarter to the beginning of the fourth, once by as much as 10 points; but each of the first three quarters finished with them having only a 2-point or 1-point lead.
Disaster struck when they failed to score for several minutes in the opening of the fourth, a period in which they missed 2 shots and 2 free throws, turned the ball over 3 times via shot clock violations, lost it out of bounds, lost the lead because they gave up 8 points, and ultimately the game 84-71.
I think it was a combination of fatigue (Brads Neal, who filled in for Bernie Tarr, who was serving a one-game suspension, played a starter-heavy 8-man rotation), and stepped-up defensive intensity by the Defenders, who finally had the home crowd cheering behind them.
The third quarter had been an epic struggle with only 1 tie but 7 lead changes, and for a moment or two, it seemed entirely probable that the Defenders would suffer their 4th consecutive defeat.
The Taigaz will host 3 of the leading tournament teams in the weeks ahead and play 2 of the other three teams it is competing with for a playoff spot on the road.
The Defenders also have 3 home games and will host the lowly but feisty Punta Gorda Panthers immediately when the tournament resumes, before traveling to visit with the Western Ballaz at San Ignacio’s Sacred Heart College Auditorium, before returning home for a showdown with their City rival Benny’s Belize Hurricanes. They complete their schedule with a rematch in Orange Walk with the Running Rebels and will then welcome a rematch at the Belize Civic Centre with the San Pedro Tiger Sharks.
Saturday night, the Western Ballaz were shocked when the tournament’s leading scorer Tavian Davis of the Punta Gorda Panthers unleashed a 23-point barrage in the second quarter, and almost willed his lowly team to another home win with 11 points in the 4th for a game high 39 points.
His team trailed by 3 points at the end of the first quarter but led by 9, 53-42, at the half, and by as much as 16 points in the third. Although the Panthers also got 12 points from Julien Travis and 11 from Marquies Williams, he got little help in the fourth quarter despite scoring 11 of his team’s 15 points, as the visitors managed to tie and then hold on for the 85-75 road win.
Western Ballaz were led by 4 players in double figures, including Darnell Oden’s 16 in his first game against his former team; Mark Gordon, another of the tournament’s leading scorers, 28; and Richard Smith III, 23 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks. He also leads the tournament in boards (13.5 rpg), and is second in blocks (2.8 blkpg).
The Western Ballaz has the Belize Hurricanes, the Belize City Defenders, the Belmopan Red Taigaz at home in San Ignacio, before venturing to San Pedro to play the Tiger Sharks before completing their regular season with what they hope will be a playoff-run showdown with the Griga Dream Ballers at home.
But it is the San Pedro Tiger Sharks who has the most favourable schedule ahead of them, since there were 2 home game cancelations and they were able to swap home games with Orange Walk.
They have six games at home, starting with Punta Gorda Panthers and then the Griga Dream Ballers, the Orange Walk Running Rebels and the Western Ballaz, before ending with the Belize City Defenders on Friday, May 12 at the Belize City Civic Centre. They also have to play the Taigaz and Hurricanes games sometime in between because those games were cancelled due to their home court being unavailable.
The tournament leader Hurricanes will face the Rebels at home before hitting the road to play the Western Ballaz in San Ignacio, and then returning to the Civic Centre as the road team against the Defenders.
They finish their home schedule against the Griga Dream Ballers at the Civic Centre and then on road at the UB Gym against the Red Taigaz. There is also the matter of when they will, if necessary, play the San Pedro Tiger Sharks game that was cancelled.
The Panthers have had a rough time, only winning one of 5 games at home and losing all four on the road. The unkind schedule has them playing their next 2 games against the San Pedro Tiger Sharks and the Hurricanes on the road, before finishing the schedule at home against the Griga Dream Ballers, on the road against the Red Taigaz in Belmopan, and finally hosting the Running Rebels.