The Belize Bank Bulldogs assured themselves a berth in post-season play following their 82-76 win last week Friday night over the previously undefeated Belmopan Bandits. The same cannot be said, however, for the Jamboree team who, even with their heavy imported arsenal, now find themselves on the outside looking in, following the results of Friday night’s game. Darwin “Puppy” Leslie led a late fourth-quarter charge which enabled the Bulldogs to outscore the Bandits 32-17 in that quarter to seal the big win. Leslie had a game high 25 pts to go along with 5 rebs and 3 steals. He was assisted by Paul Swasey’s double-double of 13 pts 13 rebs and Rupert Brown 12 pts 4 asst. As a team they shot a lethargic 39% from the field on 27 of 70 shooting, however was magnificent at the line, hitting 25 of 30 attempts for a season high 83%. The Bandits, on the other hand, played a very good game and clearly will be a team to reckon with in the playoffs. They shot 43% from the field, out-rebounded the Bulldogs 52 to 36, however were horrible at the charity stripe, hitting on only 13 of their 32 attempts. They were led by Kirk “Chengo” Burgess 20 pts 12 rebs 5 asst, Mark Wagner 14 pts and Evan Salazar 12 pts 14 rebs.
Friday night results, for all intents and purposes, confirmed the four teams destined for the playoffs. The only question which now remains unanswered is the seeding position. The University of Belize Black Jaguars, with two games remaining on their schedule, have their destiny in their own hands. It is simple; wins against Belmopan and CGI more than likely assures them the top seed with a (7-1) record. A split of the games, however, would put them in a tie with the Tigersharks, with the latter having the tie-breaker advantage. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs are sitting pretty well at (6-2) and have assured themselves of not being seeded lower than #2 or #3 based on the two following scenarios. Firstly, they hold the tie-breaker advantage over both the Bandits as well as the Tigersharks, as a result of wins over them. They would claim the #2 seed in the event Belmopan splits or loses its two remaining games, those being against UB and San Pedro. However, if Belmopan is victorious in both games, the Bulldogs would then be seeded at #3 and the Tigersharks #4 at (5-3), having the tie-breaker edge over Jamboree. Similarly, even in a worst case scenario where Belmopan loses its two remaining games and goes (5-3), they would still have the tie-breaker advantage over the (5-3) Jamboree, as a result of their head to head match-up.
Sunday’s schedule saw all three games being won by forfeiture, with the senior Bulldogs winning over Ebony Lake, and University of Belize over Black Dynamite. The league should anticipate more games being decided in this fashion as a result of the playoff bound teams already determined.
ORANGE WALK RUNNING REBELS (7-0) AND BELIZE BANK BULDOGS (8-0) ON COLLISION COURSE
The long awaited duel between junior basketball’s best two teams takes place tonight at the City Center and puts the league leading (8-0) Belize Bank Bulldogs up against the Running Rebels of Orange Walk Town. This game promises to be truly exhilarating and will feature some of Belize’s best young basketball talent under the age of 19 years – the likes of Orange Walk’s Marcel Richards, Randy Usher, Jamal Harris, and the Bulldogs’ Kaschief Thomas, Matthew Young, Alejandro Baptist, Raheem Staine and Sherwin Garcia.
Last week Friday saw the Bulldogs dispose of Burrell Boom Celtics by the final score of 65-46. Kaschief Thomas led the Bulldogs attack with 14 pts 4 asst, followed by Matthew Young 11 pts 16 rebs and Raheem Staine 9 pts 2 rebs. The Celtics had two players reaching double figures, namely Devon Brown with 15 pts and Roman Williams with 10 pts. The junior Bulldogs as a team shot 36% from the field and 67% from the charity stripe; they out-rebounded their opponents 50-43 and had 18 interceptions to their opponents’ 11.
On the same night, Orange Walk kept pace with the Bulldogs by winning over Hold-On Smart by the final score of 73-65. Randy Usher totaled 18 pts for the Rebels, followed closely by Jamal Harris 17 pts 6 rebs and Michael Martinez 8 pts 5 rebs. Meanwhile, for Hold-On Smart it was Elvis Olivera with a game high 27 pts, followed by Jamaal Kelly 11 pts. The Rebels were extremely efficient on this night, hitting 54% from the field, compared to their opponents’ 39%. They were, however, miserable at the free-throw line, hitting on only 14 of their 34 attempts, but made up on the glass, outrebounding Smart 28 to 25.
On Sunday, Truckers blew out the now (0-5) Youth Hostel by the final score of 101-76. Steven Smith totaled 31 pts 14 rebs 6 asst for Truckers, followed by Oliver Solis 29 pts 11 rebs 3 asst and Jaleel Arnold 25 pts 12 rebs 3 asst. While the youth from Hostel are winless so far in this season, Hoops News nevertheless commends them for their continued good show of sportsmanship and perseverance amidst playing against some pretty good basketball clubs in the junior division. Their determination certainly has been inspiring and should be a shining example to some of the other teams playing countrywide who have found it easier to forfeit games, rather than go out and compete. It’s a terrible state of affairs which needs to be addressed by tournament organizers countrywide.
SAN IGNACIO 2010 BECOL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
UNDP Panthers won over Hydro Power 65-48 in Over-35 play, behind Shelton Defour 20 pts 6 rebs, while Douglas Smith totaled 12 pts 11 rebs for the now (3-3) Hydro Power. In the only other game decided on the court, it was Belmopan Trojans walloping Cayo Ballers by the final score of 83-12 in U-21 play. Shen Li Arnold totaled 17 pts, followed by Akeem Watters and Jarrel Velasquez totaling 15 pts each. Meanwhile, Kevin Simpson scored 9 of the Ballers’ 12 points. All remaining games on the six-game schedule were lost by forfeiture.
Friday, 11th June 2010
Game 1 – 6:30 p.m. (U-21) Flames (#1 Seed) vs Cayo Ballers (#4 Seed)
Game 2 – 7:30 p.m. (O-35) U.N.D.P. Panthers (#1 Seed) vs Eclipse (#4 Seed)
Game 3 – 9:00 p.m. (O-35) Hydro Power (#3 Seed) vs Buca Belmopan (#2 Seed)
Saturday, 12th June 2010
Game 1 – 6:30 p.m. (U-18 Division) E3 Rebirth (#1 Seed) vs Cayo Ballers (#4 Seed)
Game 2 – 7:30 p.m. (Seniors) E3/Belize Bank (#2 Seed) vs Christ for Life (#3 Seed)
Game 3 – 9:00 p.m. (Seniors) B.N.E. Oilers (#1 Seed) vs Venus Warriors (#4 Seed)
DANGRIGA “SUMMER BOUNCE” U-21 AND SENIOR TOURNAMENT UNDERWAY
The 2010 Dangriga Summer Bounce Basketball Championship got underway this past weekend with two games on the schedule in the U-19 division. Back-A-Town got the better of Harlem, winning by the final score of 40-36, behind Wasani Flores 11 pts 3 rebs 2 asst and Iman Palacio 8 pts 8 rebs. Meanwhile, for Harlem it was Tevin Gamboa totaling 12 pts 5 rebs, followed by Denmark Ciego 11 pts 5 rebs. Game two saw Hopkins squeezing past Ghans Avenue by the slimmest of margin, 43-41. Hopkins was led by Macario Augustine 13 pts 22 rebs and Travis Lopez 9 pts 3 rebs. Ghans Avenue, who shot a woeful 29% from the field, was led by Luis Barcelona 15 pts 6 rebs and Trevaughn Usher 13 pts 1 reb.
The tournament, which features six U-19 teams and eight senior teams, is expected to conclude tentatively by the end of July. The defending junior champ is Ghans Avenue, while the defending senior champ is the Belize Bank Benguche team.