by Joaquin David Magaña, Belmopan City

This year, the NEBL has been more competitive compared to the past few years.  This, of course, makes the games more exciting to watch. One thing is certain, the addition of foreign players to the league has significantly impacted both quality and play level of certain teams. This past weekend, predicted outcomes to the games held in Belmopan, San Ignacio and Orange Walk were debated up to the last minutes of play. In Belmopan, the home team struggled to pull its win from the San Pedro Tiger Sharks. George Williams had a game high of 24 pts. Apparently no one on the Bandits team could stop him once he had the ball. Williams had a height advantage over the Bandits smaller guards and exploited it to the max in this game. Raul Roches was on fire for the Tiger Sharks, scoring six three pointers and ending the night with 22 points. Kurt Burgess, although not big on the offense, managed to showcase his defense abilities with 14 rebounds and a block. For the Bandits, Richard Smith III woke up from a two game slumber and exploded with 18 pts, 6 rebs and 5 blocks. His hiatus may have been a result of an ankle injury he sustained when he went against the Western Ballaz. Edgar Mitchell also contributed to the win, seeming more relaxed and confident leading the Bandits. Maybe he has learnt to deal with the pressures of having Ms. Belize cheering on the side for him.

In Cayo, the Western Ballaz pulled a suffered win against the NEBL Champions, the Belize City Hurricanes. The Hurricanes stormed into the Western Ballaz turf like a category five hurricanes, but as time rolled on, the big storm fizzled out into a simple rain without thunder or lightning. Much of the Hurricane’s success in the first half came as a result of the Western Ballaz lack of coaching. It seems as though the good management of the Western Ballaz is something of the past. Signs of this decay can be seen from the low fan attendance and from the assistant coach performing as the head coach. Douglas Smith has his hands well occupied by being the owner, manager and head coach at the same time. Mr. Alvarez should perhaps take the reins of the team as head coach and relieve Doug from some of his many responsibilities. If this is done, confusion and miscommunication will definitely be reduced because the Western Ballaz is a good team. Richard Troyer and Darwin Leslie are excellent leaders of this team, when Daniel Nolbert regains his level, this team will skyrocket to the top. Looking at the math, the Hurricanes still have hopes of reaching the playoffs. Their biggest obstacle right now, is defense.  Their big men, Lennox Cayetano and Benedict Terry, have been out for a time; leaving Brian White to do most of the defense work. Brian has been playing well, as usual, but needs help. The help can come from Macario Augustine who needs to step up and help fill in the vacancies.

Right now, Orange Walk Running Rebels is the team that has been ending games in the most exciting ways. With the addition of American import, James Ewing, the Running Rebels, opponents are finding them to be a pain in the rear to play against. Leslie Jacob and Roger Reneau are adding numbers and helping their team to a possible all-time winning record high in the NEBL. Randy Usher needs to wake up, he has gone from averaging 20 pts per game in the first two seasons, to a meager 13 pts per game. If this kid manages to get back to his former level, we are sure that the Running Rebel’s past losing record can change this year. The win against Dangriga Dream ballers was no surprise; at home, the Rebels are a hard team to beat.  Still, Dangriga looks like a team that will be in the playoffs. Tahj Wells (American Import) has been the big man in the defense, with rebounds and blocks. With the help of Dillmore Conorque, and Quinton Bowen in the offense, they are a team to watch.