Belize City, August 15, 2009

Team Belize arrived home to a heroes’ welcome including a motorcade through Belize City streets after winning the silver medal at the COCABA (Confederacion Centroamerciana de Baloncesto) championships at the Poli-functional Gymasium “Benito Juarez” in Cancun last Friday night.

Mexico won the gold medal by a 106-103 win over Belize in the championship final, on 3 free throws. Mexico’s 7-foot center Horacio Llamas broke a 103-103 tie with 2 from the charity stripe after the referee called a flagrant foul against Belize’s Keenan Jourdan when he stripped Llamas of the ball with 30 seconds on the clock. Gustavo Ayon scored a final free throw for the 3 pt win when Milt Palacio missed a final attempt at a trey which would have sent the game into overtime.

The silver medal still qualifies Belize for the 2010 Centrobasket tournament to be held at a venue yet to be announced, but probably will be Puerto Rico or Panama. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have already qualified as the gold and silver medalists of the last Centrobasket. Jamaica, the British Virgin Islands and Cuba have qualified from the Caribbean, though Cuba may yet pull out. Mexico and Belize are in, pending a decision from the FIBA appeals committee in Switzerland on the eligibility of Belize’s players who were born abroad. One slot remains open for the country which will host the Centrobasket tournament, which is a qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics.

 If FIBA does not grant our appeal, we would be stripped of the silver medal and it would be as if we had never participated in the tournament.

Belize had qualified to the finals by a 99-75 win against Costa Rica last Thursday. On Friday, Marlon Garnett led the Belize side, top-scoring with 43pts, shooting 11-17 from the field, of which 10 were treys, the last one tying the score a 103-103 with a minute on the clock. Alex Carcamo added 26 pts, Milt Palacio added 16 pts and handed out 6 assists, while Keenan Jourdan chipped in 10 pts.

Belize led 31-28 in the 1^st the quarter, but Mexico took over the lead 54-45 by the end of the 2^nd quarter. Belize roared back from a 10 pt deficit to lead 78-77 at the end of the 3^rd quarter. Those controversial, questionable calls in money time robbed Belize of the gold.

Rommel Beck led Mexico’s attack with 26 pts against Belize; he had also shot 10 treys to score 40pts in Mexico’s 101-66 win against Costa Rica on Wednesday. Noé Alonzo added 21 pts, Horacio Llamas was good for 20 pts and snagging 4 rebounds, while Anthony Pedroza chipped in 12 pts.

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