by Karim Juan

SAN IGNACIO TOWN, Cayo District, Sun. July 31, 2022

   The playoffs for the Benque and San Ignacio/Santa Elena Tournament concluded this past weekend at the Resilience Center at the Victor Galvez Stadium in San Ignacio Town. In the Under 15 division, Assassins Jr. (#1) defeated Benque Basketball Academy (#2) in the third and decisive game 3, claiming the Under 15 championship. In the Open Male division, on Friday night Assassins (#2) defeated Venom (#1) by the score of 68 – 56 in game 1 of the best-of-three series. On Saturday night, Assassins sealed the championship with a 76 – 66 victory.

Friday, July 29 results

   (Open Male) Assassins (#2), 68-56, over Venom (#1). Assassins – Aaron Allison 14 pts; Shemar White 12 pts; Jamie Carbajal 9 pts; Robert Jeffries 8 pts. Venom – Elvert “PG” Ariola 15 pts; Joel Montejo 14 pts; Frank Fuller 10 pts; Johan “Cutto” Bermudez  8 pts.

Saturday, July 30 results

   (Under 15)  Assassins Jr. (#1), 45-39, over Benque Basketball Academy (#2). Assassins Jr. – Jeremy Carbajal 24 pts; Roy “Sonny” Valentine 8 pts; Assad Juan 7 pts. Benque Academy – Gevan Canelo 16 pts; Hua Qiang Zhao 13 pts; Byron Rosas 6 pts.

   (Open Male) Assassins (#2), 76-66, over Venom (#1). Assassins – Aaron Allison 19 pts; Jamie Carbajal 15 pts; Shemar White 14 pts; Robert Jeffries 9 pts; Ryan “Mentes” Carbajal 9 pts. Venom – Johan “Cutto” Bermudez 23 pts; Frank Fuller 16 pts; Joel Montejo 10 pts; Allizair Rhaburn 4 pts. 

   Trophies were presented to the winning teams on Saturday night.

   In regards to this local tournament, the first and second place teams in the Under 15 and Under 18 divisions received a team trophy. For the Open Male division, the champions will receive a team trophy with $300, the 2nd place team will receive a team trophy with $250, and the third place team will get a team trophy with $150. 

   For the national tournament that will be held in Belize City on August 13 and 14, each player on the Under 15 and Under 18 champions will receive a one-year scholarship, while in the male and female Open divisions, the champions will receive $10,000, while the second place teams will receive $5,000.

   Below are the teams that will be representing the west at the national tournament that will be held in Belize City.