Baskteball league discovers parity
Sports on this newscast is usually reserved for Monday and the sharp tongue of James Adderley. But today we make an exception. In case you haven’t noticed, the action in the Belize Basketball Association, once thought to be a coronation party for the B.T.L. Nets, has evolved into a genuine race involving no less than five teams. Leading the charge from rags to riches is the once lowly squad from Corozal.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Fresh off their upset victory against San Cas U.B. over the weekend, on Wednesday night the Corozal Kaus took the hardwood at the City Centre determined to show the Raiders they were a force to be reckoned with. Kirk “Shabba” Smith was joined at centre court by friends Marcus Watkins, Eric Carr and Lester Hood, the team’s newest secret weapons.
A few minutes into the action, it seemed like business as usual with both teams hitting a few and missing the others, but Kaus quickly set the pace, with outside shots and easy turnovers.
Kaus would maintain a lead, whether it was three points or nine despite serious attempts by the Raiders squad to take control.
The game comes back from half time with the north in front and a pumped up Raiders team wants the ball, badly. But an attempt by Damon Ollie to block the ball draws a foul…his sixth, which sends him to the bench for the rest of the night.
The Raiders reaction sends Corozal’s hot hand Lester Hood to the line for six: three foul shots, a two shot technical called on the Raiders bench and one shot for a technical on Ollie. Hood would hit five of the six; taking the game to 59 to 47.
So when Kirk Smith takes out his frustration about a foul on an innocent plastic chair, Raiders want the same punishment dealt to Ollie given to Smith. And when it isn’t, the Raiders aren’t happy.
But they hit back where it hurts and start landing shots to close the gap. Darwin Carter comes through for the Raiders with not one, two, but three shots from the deep.
And when this attack on another Carter attempt doesn’t draw the foul, the Raiders once again confront the refs.
With three minutes to go, Kaus has a ten point margin 75-85. But Sanchez and Carter try hard.
(Three from Darwin, two from Bart, another three from Darwin.)
And suddenly it’s a one point deficit.
But Corozal proves persistent with easy pick-offs drawing the fouls and sinking the free throws.
At five seconds to go and up by three, the Raiders are forced to make a difficult call. They opt to have Sanchez drive to net, hoping to draw the foul, but Kaus stands by and while Sanchez grabs two, the Raiders lose by one…sending Corozal and its fans into mass celebration.
Kirk Shabba Smith, Corozal Kaus
“This is a big win for us. I brought in three of my boys from Atlanta and I know these guys are very good players. And I don’t think we are going to lose another game right now because these guys are very good players.”
Janelle Chanona
“You basically came out from nowhere to surprise everybody. You took U.B. by storm on Saturday, what strategy is the team using?”
Kirk “Shabba” Smith
“We bring in two big guys and they’re hard to stop on the post, and like I said, I don’t see no team out there that really can handle us in the post because we’re very interchangeable, anyone of us play like three, four and five. And like I said, these guys are amazing on the glass and I’m very glad that they came because without them I don’t think we’re gonna reach as far as we reach right now. As they came in Friday, we won two games in a row and that’s a big plus for our team because we are trying to go to the final four and probably to the finals.”
Janelle Chanona
“You haven’t finished importing yet?”
Kirk “Shabba” Smith
“No, I don’t think so, we probably have one or two more guys that we’re going to try and work on.”
Janelle Chanona
“What did you all think about the refereeing tonight?”
Derrick Morgan, Coach, Corozal Kaus
“That’s basketball in Belize. the opponents did what they had to do try to change the momentum of the game and it worked somewhat. That was their strategy, we can’t complain about the refereeing, you got to play, those are the guys that have the final say.”
League stats have B.T.L. with three wins to only one loss, the Raiders at four and two, San Cas U.B. and Corozal are both three and three, while Orange Walk has posted two wins and three losses. League doormat Aba Iseni remains winless in six games. Basketball action continues this Friday night with B.T.L. facing off against the Raiders at the City Centre.
