Last night?s game started off with Orange Walk getting out the starting gates with a bang. Four and half minutes into the game, Albert ?Berger? Alvarez, who was making his first start since signing with Orange Walk, got a rebound and went from coast to coast, dropping a no look pass to Roger Favela, who made it look simple as 1-2-3- with the easy layup to give the Warriors a 10?4 lead.

The Blue Devils couldn?t find a way to make a basket. They were trying to match Orange Walk with their outside shooting, instead of making it easier by running plays. As a result, Blue Devils ended up on the wrong end of the stick with a 24?9 disadvantage.

In the second quarter, Roger Favela continued where he left off in the first quarter, coming off a screen hitting a long 3-pointer. The Warriors seemed unstoppable. Quickie was his usual self, wheeling and dealing, making his quick streaks up and down the floor, finding Favela from on top of the three point line. Bainton got a rebound ran up the floor, stopped behind the three point line, dumped it off to Roger Favela on the left side. Favela made the three and was fouled. We thought we were going to see the league?s first 4 point play, but Roger missed the freebie.

With 5:40 left in the second, Berger Alvarez went between two Blue Devils and snatched a big rebound. Berger threw a long pass to Lester Cadle on the breakaway, and Cadle wrecked it for a 39?13 lead. Andre Almendarez, with only 3 minutes left in the half, got caught in no man?s land with one tick left on the 24 second clock and launched a three from beyond NBA range. He found nothing but net, 49?19 Warriors.

At the two-minute mark of the second quarter, the Blue Devils continued to struggle offensively.

The half ends with the visiting Orange Walk Warriors up by thirty three points, 61?28, which, according to our records, matches the biggest lead at the half in a BBA game. The only other game that had this disparity in a lead at the half was Maria Chang Crown Stadium against Santino?s Hotpoints, when the Hotpoints rallied to win the game.

?You gonna see the biggest sports comeback in history tonight,? Blue Devils Head Coach Bernie Tarr was overheard telling someone. True to his word, the Blue Devils started off the third quarter with a long shot from Aubrey Lopez and it took two minutes before the Orange Walk posse could get some offense and get Roger Favela to make the points. The Blue Devils were chipping at the lead slowly but surely, and at the half way mark of the third quarter they had cut the 61?28 halftime lead to 67?38.

With only three minutes left in the third quarter, the Warriors had only been able to score nine points. The Warriors were committing some serious forced and unforced turnovers, and had seemingly lost their focus in the quarter.

The Blue Devils then turned up the heat through the efforts of Claude Jones, who ended with a total 12 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocked shots as they got to within striking distance at 80?59.

The money quarter, the fourth quarter, and the Blue Devils cut it to 11 points with 6:27 left in the game at 81?70 after the Warriors were unable to move from 81 for the remaining two and a half minutes of the third quarter.

For the remainder of the fourth quarter the teams traded points. The Warriors weren?t able to go up by more than 10 points and the Blue Devils weren?t able to crack the 10 point margin. Then Orange Walk?s Lester Cadle launched a big tray at the 2:15 mark, and that may have been the dagger. By that time the Blue Devils, who had been chasing all night long, appeared to have run on empty after using up lots of energy trying to get back into the game.

After scoring 61 points in the first half, the Warriors were only able to get 47 in the second half, but that was enough to win the game. They get to do it again Friday night, August 20th,in Shugga City.

The Blue Devils, who appeared to be complacent, may have taken this game for granted, knowing that all they need is just one win to make it into the 2004 BBA Summer Heat playoffs. They underestimated the hunger of the Warriors in trying to make it into the playoffs and may have dug a hole for themselves.

Roger Favela had a game high 27 points, shooting 5 for 8 from beyond the 3-point line. Favela grabbed 5 rebounds and served up 5 assists for the Warriors, followed by Mark Bainton?s 21 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds. Lester Cadle also scored 21 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and handed out 4 assists. Andre Almendarez was the only other Warrior in double digits – scoring 19, snatching 3 rebounds to go along with 3 blocked shots.

For the Print Belize Belmopan Blue Devils, Aubrey Lopez was top ?dawg? with 26 points and 5 rebounds; Carlisle Barrow had 13 points and 5 rebounds; Claude ?Too Tall? Jones scored a dozen points with 11 boards and a game high 4 blocked shots. John Rhys also had 12 points and Evan Salazar had 11 points besides crashing the glass for a game high 19 rebounds with 13 coming off the offensive boards.