OUTA GRIGA DANG – BELIZE BANK BENGUCHE AND WAMADA TRIP MEET IN DANGRIGA 2009 SENIOR FINALS Excellent!Very GoodGoodFairPoor Rating: (0 votes) Posted: 03/07/2009 - 11:49 AM Author: Bernard Wagner Darwin “Puppy” Leslie scored 10 of his game high 22 pts in the final quarter of last week Thursday night’s semifinal match-up against Valley Express, to propel Belize Bank Benguche to the 65-62 win over Valley Express. Leslie’s effort was instrumental in the win, as his team overcame a four-point deficit with little over one minute to play, and clearly on the brink of elimination.  The Express came in to the game very loose, showing no ill effects from the 30-point embarrassment they took back on June 13 against Benguche. They were sharp on both the offensive and defensive end, and displayed a vey balanced attack with key contributions coming from Leon Gentle, Hansel Casimiro, Darwin Lino and Stephen Baizar. This balanced attack apparently created all sorts of problems for Belize Bank Benguche defense, who could not zone in on any one player, given the Express balanced offense. This, coupled with an overall poor shooting night, were the main components which put Benguche in a situation where they trailed the Express for most of the night. If not for the play of Darwin Leslie, Belize Bank Benguche would be on the outside looking in; Leslie hit 4 of 4 at the line in the final minute, to go along with his 8 rebs and 3 asst. His teammates Earl Johnson contributed 16 pts 8 rebs, while Leon Williams contributed 9 pts 8 rebs and 4 big blocked shots. With the win, Belize Bank Benguche now moves on to face Wamada TRIP in the final tomorrow night, while Valley Express will face BWEL Flames in the third place match. Meanwhile in U-19 play, Ghans Avenue moved on to the Final, following a 72-29 annihilation of Southside Rebels, who unfortunately were without the services of their best player, Leroy Louriano. On the opposing side, Daniel Nolberto was his usual self, putting up double-double numbers 28 pts 14 rebs. Ghans now face C&M Rebuilders, who they managed to edge out in the final game of the regular season, while Southside will face Hopkins in the third place match.   BELIZE CITY COUNCIL CRASHES ABL’S PARTY IN 75-64 WIN, FORCES DECISIVE GAME THREE Belize City Council, with their back squarely against the wall and facing elimination, came prepared to do battle last Friday night at the City Center in game two of the 2009 Interoffice Basketball best-of-three Final; and as a result of hard work and perseverance was able to post the 75-64 win over Atlantic Bank Ltd., thus forcing a third and decisive game tonight at the City Center. With the win, Belize City Council improved to (3-0) this season when facing elimination, a far cry from the two previous years when they were a disheartening (0-2) in elimination games. Belize City Council head coach Brads Neal obviously made the necessary adjustments, and showed tremendous poise in the early going when ABL ran out to the quick nine-point lead. Neal apparently felt that if he could withstand and contain the early game adrenaline and emotions that both his opponents as well as his team experienced during the early going of game two, he should be in pretty good shape going into the third and particularly the fourth quarter. His blueprint for victory clearly was to keep the game close, control game momentum and let his proven veterans take over the game in the waning moments. His players obviously bought into his game plan and executed it with precision, timely offense and hard nosed defense. Veteran and former San Pedro Tigershark, Godstend Ferguson, who had been criticized recently for his lethargic play, came up big in the clutch, hitting four three-pointers for a total of 22 pts; he also dished out 8 assts to go along with his 3 rebs and 2 stls. His teammate Arthur “Fish” Neal played big on the block, totaling 14 pts 11 rebs.    Meanwhile for ABL, aside from the play of David Apolonio 19 pts, for the remaining players it was a game they’d sooner forget. In-game brawl as well as out-game brawl, poor coaching decisions, coupled with overconfidence and an unearned swagger, was ABL’s recipe for disaster. Coach Young had a poor night on the sidelines; obviously he was not creative enough in persuading his players that a game one victory in a short three-game series does not necessarily guarantee a series victory, but rather it just guarantees that your team will not be swept. This was a harsh lesson for ABL, but a necessary one. They fell in love with the three-pointer, and forgot about the benefits of attacking their opponent’s interior. Their keys to victory tonight will be the ability of their guards, particularly Andrew “Head” Staine, to attack Belize City Council’s interior defense, as well as their ability to get out in transition. The three-pointers will come, but it must come as a third or fourth option; anything else will be playing into their opponent’s strength.    Meanwhile for Belize City Council, in the two games played, one thing has been constant: ABL offensive output has been 64 points in both games. This clearly is a trend, and we would think that in devising his game plan Coach Neal will take this into consideration. Tonight’s game promises to be great; however, too close for Hoops News to call. DREAM TEAM – BELIZE ASSEMBLED PT 2 A reader of our article wrote us this past week expressing some displeasure in the process involved in the selection of the National team, as well as the exclusion of seasoned guard Aubrey Lopez from the team. He also requested that we provide statistics and recent accomplishments for the selected international players. In response to the reader’s request, Head Coach Kevin Siroki communicated to us that Lopez was invited to the camp as was everyone else. Practice sessions were advertised in the local media on numerous occasions; however, Lopez showed little interest and instead chose not to show up. He further explained that the selection process was transparent, and all players who made the sacrifice to show up were given every opportunity to make the cut.    We promised last week to give our readers a brief background on some of the foreign based Belizeans who have been selected to the senior men’s national team. Most of these players will begin making their way into the jewel within the next week or so. They will include Richard Troyer, who stands 6’5" and played competitively last year with Utah Valley University Wolverines as a senior, averaging 9.8 ppg 5 rpg in 30 minutes of play per game. His team won a respectable 15 games, while losing 14, and he competed against opponents such as Boise State, Marquette and UC-Santa Barbara. The former Boston Celtic and the elder statesman on the team, 34-year-old shooting guard Marlon Garnett played 19 games this past year in Croatia for Cedevita Zagreb and averaged 12.8 ppg in 26 minutes of play. He also played in the Euro Cup for KK Zadar and averaged 11.5 ppg. Meanwhile Dakin Braddock, the 6’11" power forward/center, played high school ball at National Christian Academy, and in 2002-2003 played as a freshman for South Carolina State Bulldogs. According to scouts, just looking at his height one might think he’s an inside player, but that’s not the case. While being a good rebounder, he plays primarily on the perimeter. He’s a good athlete with a legit jumper to 3-range. Herbie Allen, the 5’11" guard who makes his home in New York, played college ball for the Fairfield Stags, and last year as a senior averaged 9.6 ppg to go along with 2 rpg and 2.8 apg. Scouts report describes him as a prolific scoring guard and shooter; a quick trigger who needs to be shadowed on the perimeter. He is quick to the hole, with good lateral quickness.    His teammate in the backcourt, Darwin “DC” Carter is no stranger to Belizeans. He was a regular here during the glory days of semipro basketball, won a number of championships with Kremandala Raiders, and also played on one occasion for the University of Belize. He is a true professional, and last year played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) with the Maywood Buzz. Statistics obtained show that in a nine-game stretch, Carter averaged 34.3 ppg, including a 53-point effort against OC Gladiators, and as a result was named Player of the Week. Carter will likely be joined in the backcourt by the 24-year-old 6’1" guard Charlie Burgess, the former Texas Tech Red Raider. In 2006-2007 he played under the tutelage of the “General”, the renowned Bobby Knight, and averaged 9 ppg 4 rpg and 3 apg. In 2007-2008, with limited minutes he averaged 5.6 ppg 2.6 rpg and 2.0 apg, and in 2007-2008 did not play. The other swing man, Gene Myvett has good size at 6’4" and plays both guard/forward positions. He is 26 years old and hails from Palmdale, California. The former Northridge Matador currently plays for Hoops Stars, a pro league team based in California. Scouting reports describe him as a premier scorer and rebounder, can play both guard positions as well as small forward. He is an unselfish player with a winning attitude that is infectious with his teammates. One of those teammates will be Kyron Stokes, the 6’5" guard/forward who played last year as a freshman for Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles and averaged 6.4 ppg, to go along with 3.8 rpg. The scouting report obtained described him as an excellent shooter who can put the ball on the floor and get to the rim ... Long, wiry athlete owns surprising strength ... Grew nearly two inches during his freshman season and put on 15 lbs… A key contributor as a freshman in 2008-09, scored in double figures 10 times, exploded for career-high 18 points at Louisiana-Lafayette, adding eight rebounds, three steals and two assists in his first collegiate start, contributed 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting at No. 1 North Carolina ... also added four assists and four rebounds against the Tar Heels.    While all of the foreign based players have come with impressive resumes, none has been more impressive than the accomplishments made by 6’8" forward Alex Carcamo, who just concluded his season in April of this year playing in the TNA league in Argentina for San Martin Corrientes. Alex averaged 19.7 ppg for second in the league, grabbed 9 rpg and dished out 2 apg, while shooting 59% from the field. For his accomplishment he was named to the All-TNA 1st Team, in addition to being named Player of the Year and Import Player of the Year. While Carcamo was strutting his stuff in Argentina, 1998 teammate and former Utah Jazz Milton Palacio was also doing his thing in the Russian pro league playing for BC Khimsky Moscow region, which just concluded in April of this year. In 33 games played Milton averaged 6.4 ppg 2 rpg 3 apg in little over 22 minutes per game, while shooting close to 50% from the field. His team played in the Eurocup, losing to CSKA, three games to one. Meanwhile, Noel Felix, the 220 pounder, 6’10", when last we heard of him he was being waived by the Sacramento Kings in late October of last year, following a 12-game stint where he averaged 1.5 ppg 1.1 rpg in just about 7 minutes of play in 12 games. The former CBA 2004-05 defensive player of the year has played overseas in Israel for Hapoel and Maccabi Tel Aviv, and also has had short stints playing for NBA teams Seattle Supersonics, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns. Not much is known about Keenan Jourdan, the former 6’8’ power forward from Boston College, who made it on the list of USA top 100 seniors of the class of 1993, as well as Clinton Fuller and 6’11" 221 pounder Sonny Watson. We will just have to wait and see.    Next week we will be concluding our look at the 2009-2010 version of the Belize national men’s basketball team by taking an in depth look at the best of the local players.