E-Three Stars had four players scoring in double figures last weekend in their prime time match-up played against Cougar’s Club in the ongoing 2009 BECOL Basketball Senior Championship. Leading the charge for the Stars was Jimmy Rudon with 19 pts 2 rebs, followed by Kurt “Chengo” Burgess 14 pts 11 rebs, Mark O’Brien 14 pts 6 rebs, and Shannon Guzman 12 pts 2 rebs. The game, disappointingly, did not live up to its billing, as was evident by the lopsided 76-54 final score. Cougar’s Club, who with a win would have taken over sole possession of first place in the senior division, unfortunately could not capitalize on the opportunity presented to them. And so, despite good individual performances from Dorian “Cheesy” Jones 19 pts 7 rebs and Christian Rodriguez 18 pts 4 rebs, as a team they fell way short and were not able to match the intensity brought by E Three Stars. In the earlier U-21 game, Sacred Heart College won over Hydro Power by the final score of 56-51, behind Felix Martinez and Ian Lennan 12 pts each; while for Hydro Power it was Johan Bermudez scoring 14 pts in the loss. In game three, played on Saturday night, Venus Warriors won handily over Unitedville Invaders by the score of 73-53 in senior play. Venus had four players scoring in double figures, led by Ivan “Stainless” Flowers 20 pts 4 rebs, followed by Jason Henry with 12 pts 5 rebs.
Scores from Friday games saw Cayo Ballers over St. Ignatius High School by the score of 41-34 in U-18 action. Alfonso Tesecum led Cayo Ballers with 26 pts 6 rebs, while for St. Ignatius it was Renton Lisbey totaling 14 pts 3 rebs. In the middle game, E-Three Stars won in a struggle over Perk Up Blazers by the score of 62-58. Kurt “Chengo” Burgess totaled 24 pts 9 rebs and Elroy “Shabba” Willis 11 pts 1 reb in the win, while for Perk Up Blazers it was Don Williams totaling 13 pts 4 rebs. In the closing game played on Friday, Hydro Power edged Tuff E Nuff Rebels by the score of 45-43. Gerald and Stephen Usher had 14 pts and 12 pts, respectively, in the win; while Robert Galvez had a double double, 16 pts 10 rebs in the loss.
Tonight’s games put Flames versus Hydro Power in U-21 play, followed by Tuff E Nuff Rebels going up against Belize Bank Rebels in Over-35 action. The final game tonight will be a rain delayed make-up game which puts Cougar’s Club up against Venus Warriors in senior play. Following tonight’s action, the games resume tomorrow night with Mount Carmel taking aim at Cayo Ballers in U-18, followed by Belmopan Bandits seeing action against Hydro Power in O-35 play. The nightcap game has Benque Westside playing host to Hard Time Hustlers in U-21 basketball.
2009 IBL OPENER IS REMATCH OF 2008 FINALS – AERO DISPATCH VS BWS
With the new backboard finally installed at the Belize City Center during this past week, the much anticipated 2009 Interoffice Basketball Championship is set to tip-off tonight at 8:00 after the official opening ceremonies are completed. The opening ticket puts the four semifinalists from last year’s tournament in an early regular season showdown. In game one, Belize Telemedia Ltd. will try to make it their third win in a row over Central Bank, dating back to last year. BTL won last year’s regular season head to head match-up by the score of 56-41, and also won the third place consolation game by the score of 54-33. Central Bank clearly has match-up problems against BTL, and this has been obvious in the outcome of the games played, where they have been losing by an average of 18 points over the past two games. BTL’s Jason Lamb has had huge games against Central Bank, averaging just over 15 ppg against them, while Central Bank’s floor leader Edward “Thugs” Baptist has been kept pretty much in check by BTL’s defense. Last year, BTL compiled a record of (6-2), while Central Bank was one game behind with a (5-3) record. Advantage BTL.
The second game of the night is a rematch of last year’s finals, as defending champs Aero Dispatch will host sub-champs BWSL. The latter, who is the favorite to win this year’s tournament, obviously will be trying to make this a statement game. After losing all three games played last year against Aero, the sub-champs will be relying heavily that the acquisition of Jerome “Penny” Ellis, now teaming up with backcourt mate Fenton Norales and power forward Karim Thompson, will finally end the three-game losing streak. Last year, BWSL lost to the defending champs by an average of almost 14 points per game, 77-58 during the regular season, and 64-53 and 65-54 in the finals. Aero’s Charlie “Dunk” Armstrong was BWSL’s killer in those three games, averaging 16 ppg and almost12 rpg. He will be hard pressed, however, to duplicate those numbers this time around, without the supporting cast of Floyd “Bol” Talbert, Kurt “Chengo” Burgess and Kelvin “Kelly B” Gillett on the court alongside him. Advantage-BWSL.
PRESS RELEASE
Mr. Denfield (Teddy) Andrewin, the first President of the newly formed Belize District Basketball Referee Association (BDBRA) would hereby like to inform the general public and organizers of basketball tournaments operating in the Belize District that requests for referees to officiate tournaments can be made through him at phone # 610-3808 or through the Belize Basketball Federation (BBF). Other executive members on the BDBRA include 1st Vice-President Leroy Clother, 2nd Vice-President Kenneth Staine, Treasurer Marvin Garcia, Asst. Treasurer Ms. Angelique Ayuso, and Luigi Zaldivar and Eugene “Boca” Trench as Secretary and Asst. Secretary, respectively.