DAY ONE
Day one started with a bang โ literally โ at the precise moment the ball was readied for the toss a we had lightening followed by thunder and all the lights went out. Thirty minutes later with all the lights back, referee Maurice Gamez from Costa Rica tried it again โ this time with the desired result and the game was on
Mexico was up 18 โ 5 at the end of the first quarter but Nicaragua stormed back in the second period, outscoring Mexico 17 โ 12 to end the half just down ย by 8 points, 22 โ 30. The second half was a different story with Mexico controlled the half scoring 51 points to Nicaraguaโs 22 to ensure a final score of Mexico 81 โ 44 Nicaragua.
Top scorer for Mexico was Efrain Martinez with 20 points and for Nicaragua Carlos Alegria with 23.
Game 2 saw Puerto Rico up against Guatemala, at the end of the half the scorde 21 โ 12 to Puerto Rico. The second half was much the same with Puerto Rico leading all the way. Guatemala put up a fight in the final quarter winning it 15 โ 13 but it was not enough and Puerto Rico took the game 50 โ 37.
Top scorer for Puerto Rico with 16 points was Carlos Martinez and for Guatemala was Juan Buch with 13 points.
The big mystery of the night was would Honduras arrive in time to play, originally expected on the 23rd but due to bus problems forcing them to travel by public transport the team was forced to stay over night in Nicaragua and travel on to San Jose on October 25th. They arrived at 6pm barely in time for the opening ceremonies.
So after a long journey Honduras struggled to keep up with the host team Costa Rica, the game almost over before it began with quarter scores of 02 โ 22, 03 โ 28, 04 โ 21 and 08 โ 15. The game was never in doubt and Costa Rica comfortably wone their first match, 86 โ 17.
Top scorer for Costa Rica was Kenneth Gonzalez with 46 points whilst Honduras’ Carlos Mejia and Jorge Rivera had 6 points a piece.
DAY 2
On day two Guatemala got their first win over Honduras 69 โ 27. They came out hot in the first half up 36 โ 9 at the end of the half thanks to Juan Buchโs 20 points. The second half was much of the same with Buchย adding another 17 points to his tally and leading his side to victory.
Top scorers for Guatemala Juan Buch with 37 points and Hugo Andrino with 18 points. For Honduras it was Jorge Rivera with 9 points.
Next up it was El Salvador, who had a bye on day 1, so were keen to get playing with their first game against long time rival Nicaragua. The first quarter was close with Nicaragua up by just one point, 17 โ 16. El Salvador came back in the second quarter scoring 11 points to take the lead a 4 point lead into half time, 27 โ 23, on the strength of Rafael Melgarโs 12 point.
In the second half the teams exchanged leads, El Salvador winning theย third quarter 19 โ 8 and increasing their leadย to 15 points going into the final 10 minutes. However a huge final quarter from Nicaragua saw them outscore El Salvador 21 โ 4 to take home the win by just 2 points, Nicaragua 52 – 50 El Salvador.
Top scorers for Nicaragua Richard Hodgson with 14 points and Manuel Ulloa with 15 points. For El Salvador Rafael Melgar 18 points, and William Calderon with 15 points.
Final game of day two saw the host nation come out slow only scoring two points in the first quarter against a strong Puerto Rico team who score 18 points. However, Costa Rica fought back in the second quarter scoring 10 points to Puerto Ricoโs 12, although it seemed that the damage was already done and Puerto Rico comfortably won the third quarter, 23 โ 11, and the fourth 17 โ 11, to win the game 70 โ 34.
Top scorer for Puerto Rico – Michal Thompkins with 17 points and for Costa Rica – Kenneth Gonzalez with 19 points
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For live streams of the games visitย http://www.tdmascr.com/
