The post-season for the 2009/2010 St. Martin’s Credit Union basketball tournament gets underway this evening in San Ignacio Town, following last weekend’s final round of regular season games. Game one for tonight puts #1 seeded Pine Lumber against the #4 seeded Credit Union in the 7-12 years age group. Pine Lumber, who enters the playoffs with a 5-1 record, will be trying to extend their winning streak to three games, following wins over Scotia Bank (25-19) and Belize Bank (29-28) last weekend. Against Scotia Bank it was Yorel Lisbey leading the way with 15 pts, while against Belize Bank it was Osvin Parham and Rene Quewell totaling 15 and 12 pts, respectively, in the win.
Meanwhile, game two will feature a female match-up that puts the #1 seeded SHJC against the #2 seeded Floyd Haylock Ballaz. The former is the favorite entering the playoffs; however, Floyd Ballaz will be trying to avenge last weekend’s double dip when they lost two games to SHJC by the final scores of 24-14 and 41-17. Jasmine Armstrong of SHJC was the scoring leader in both games, tallying 14 pts and 20 pts, respectively.
Game three features #1 seeded Chaa Creek taking on the #4 seeded SHJC in the male 13-15 years age group category. Chaa Creek, who enters the playoffs with an impressive 5-1 record, is expected to make easy work of SHJC who, in contrast, enters the playoffs with a miserable 1-5 record. Last weekend, Chaa Creek, led by Vijon Scott 10 pts, humiliated Juan’s Crew by the final score of 32-14, and in similar fate bombed SHJC by the final score of 57-28, behind Carlos Juarez 19 pts and Richard Chuc 14 pts.
The fourth and final game tonight has #1 seeded Haylock Shootaz facing off against #4 seeded Costless in the 16-18 years age group. Haylock Shootaz, who just last week had their way with Costless, will be trying for two in a row over Costless. To accomplish this they will certainly need more of the same from Elliot Bermudez who, in the game played last weekend, had a game high 29 pts in the win. Costless, on the other hand, will be trying desperately to end a two-game losing streak, following back to back losses last weekend against E-3 (44-37) and against Haylock Shootaz (59-53).
The games resume on Saturday with four scheduled games on the calendar. In game one, #2 seeded Scotia Bank will go up against #3 seeded Belize Bank in the 7-12 years male age group. Meanwhile, in game two, it will be SHJC and Floyd Ballaz engaging once again in the female category; while game three puts #2 seeded Juan’s Crew against #3 seeded Celina’s in the 13-15 years age bracket. In the final game of the weekend, #2 seeded E3 will oppose #3 seeded SHJC in the 16-18 years age group. Both E3 and SHJC boast 3-3 records, so this series should be very close.