SANTO DOMINGO (Centrobasket U17 Championship 2017) – The first day of the Centrobasket U17 Championship handed victories to the National Teams of Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

The Centrobasket U17 opened with a telling and dominant win for Bahamas over Guyana 114-63. From the get-go, Bahamas dominated the scoreboard with 52% shooting and great play on the paint, where the Bahamians added 70 of their points. A 71-53 first half settled the game for Bahamas. Dominick Bridgewater was the best for Bahamas with 27 points and 6 rebounds.

Group B action of the Centrobasket U17 Championship began with a 69-61 win for the Virgin Islands over Jamaica. The game was even at first, but the Virgin Islands took over the scoreboard after a 23-10 second quarter. Virgin Islands’ lead grew to 16 points, but Jamaica discounted from the difference with good passages during the second half. Virgin Islands stayed on top and claimed the win, thanks to a great performance from Jaz Farrell, who added 19 points in the win.

Puerto Rico debuted in the Centrobasket U17 Championship with a 67-53 win over Mexico. The Mexicans entered the game with rhythm and produced a 9-0 lead. Puerto Rico slowly found its game and started to produce, cutting the difference to 3 at the end of the first quarter. Puerto Rico won the second quarter 18-10 and never let go of the lead. Puerto Rico won the battle of the boards 47-37 and accumulated 13 assists. The top performer for the Boricuas was Jorge Torres who had a 14-point and 17-rebound “double-double”.

The Dominican Republic started the Centrobasket U17 Championship with a hard-fought win over Panama 59-55. The Dominicans started the game with a 12-0 streak, but the Panamanians fought hard and after a 17-8 second quarter, the difference was decreased to 2 points. The teams fought evenly for the remainder of the game, as neither could pull away on the scoreboard. The scoreboard showed a 1-point lead for the host with 3 minutes remaining of the game. Rubel added four points from the free-throw line and the Dominican advantage was 5 points with 15 seconds to go. The Panamanians deducted a point from the difference, but the win belonged to the host. Alonzo Frink was the top performer for the Dominicans with a 16-point and 11-rebound “double-double”.

Tomorrow on the second day of the Group Phase, Bahamas will take on Mexico, Puerto Rico will take on Guyana, Jamaica will face Panama and the host will face the Virgin Islands.

The top-three teams from the Centrobasket U17 Championship will qualify to next year’s FIBA U18 Americas Championship in St. Catharines, Canada.

FIBA