HERMOSILLO (FIBA U16 Americas Championship 2019) – The National Teams of the Dominican Republic and Panama earned hard-fought victories on Day 2 of the Centrobasket U15 Championship 2018.

Panama tasted victory at the Centrobasket U15 Championship following a 75-40 win over Costa Rica. Led offensively by 18 points from Guillermo Navarro, the Panamanians took control of the scoreboard half-way through the first quarter and never looked back. A 20-0 fourth quarter handed the comfortable win to the team coached by Garry Joe Burgos. Yoshaekel Thomas was the top performer for the Costa Ricans with 15 points and 8 rebounds.

The Dominican Republic debuted at the Centrobasket U15 Championship with a 78-73 win over archrivals Puerto Rico. The Dominicans had a better start and escaped to a slight lead after a 23-16 first quarter. Puerto Rico reacted and went on to win the second quarter 23-19, to cut the difference to three points at half-time. The second half was even and hard-fought. The Dominican captured the win with better ball rotation, racking-up 16 assists and better control of the ball. Jean Montero was the best performer of the game with 32 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 steals.

On the third day of the Centrobasket U15 Championship, Costa Rica will face the Dominican Republic and Mexico will face Panama.

The top three teams from the Centrobasket U15 Championship 2018 will qualify to the FIBA U16 Americas Championship 2019.

FIBA