REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - Jean Montero waited a long time to get some revenge and in the end it worked out as Dominican Republic won the Centrobasket U15 Championship 2018. Now the young talent has his sights set on returning to the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup in 2020.

Montero received the MVP trophy for guiding the Dominicans to their first U15 Centrobasket crown - going 4-0 in the five-team tournament in Hermosillo, Mexico. Along the way, the Dominicans beat the regional powers Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, hosts Mexico and Panama - booking their ticket to the U16 Americas for the third straight time. Also advancing to the continental tournament next summer were second-placed Mexico and third-placed Puerto Rico - both reaching their sixth straight U16 Americas event.

Next summer will actually be Montero’s second FIBA U16 Americas  Championship after competing in the 2017 event in Formosa, Argentina as a 13-year-old. Still, he averaged 9.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.4 steals.

One of those games in June 2017 was a 94-88 loss to Puerto Rico in the final group stage game. The Puerto Ricans led by 12 points with 8 minutes left but the Dominicans fought back and made it a one-point game with 33 seconds left. The Dominicans had one shot on their next possession to take the lead but missed and Puerto Rico went on to win - despite Montero picking up 8 points and 7 rebounds.

A 13-year-old Jean Montero at the FIBA U16 Americas Championship 2017

The result meant that Puerto Rico would finish second in the group and Dominican Republic third - sending Puerto Rico to the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018, where they would sensationally finish third. The Dominicans still needed two more victories to lock up their spot at the U17 World Cup, beating Venezuela and Mexico with Montero tallying 15 points with 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in the Mexico game.

Montero was well-served in that tournament watching David Jones be the overwhelming leader of that team - averaging 19.0 points on more than 14 shots a game, 6.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.0 steals. And Montero was able to take on a bigger role alongside Jones at this past summer's U17 World Cup as he averaged 15.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 4.1 steals to Jones’ 19.7 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 3.9 steals.

Those tournaments gave Montero a bit of the blueprint how to lead a Dominican team on his own, which he absolutely did in Mexico, averaging 25.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.3 steals and 5.0 assists though he shot just 18 percent from three-point range.

There were just five teams at the Centrobasket U15 event in Hermosillo, Mexico with Costa Rica and Panama being the other two after Haiti pulled out of the tournament. The format was all five teams would play each other in round robin style and the group standings would also be the final standings and determine the three U16 Americas qualifiers.

Before the tournament in Mexico, the Dominicans received a message from the country’s veteran international Eulis Baez, who has played in three FIBA AmeriCups and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014.

“I want you to give it all for the national team shirt, i want you to enjoy it. Give it all on the court for the nation,” Baez said on a video message on Twitter.

Puerto Rico opened their play on Day 1 with a 91-31 blowout of Panama while the Dominicans did not have a game that day - due to the uneven number of teams. Day 2’s big showdown was Dominican Republic against Puerto Rico - the latter who were 19-1 in the history of the competition (losing only to Mexico in the 2014 Final) with a 2-0 record over the Dominicans, winning in the 2014 Semi-Finals and the 2016 Final.

 Montero suffered another defeat to Puerto Rico this past summer at the U17 World Cup in Argentina, where the Puerto Ricans ran away to an 84-69 victory in group play - Montero picking up 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

In Hermosillo, the Dominicans jumped ahead by 15 points in first quarter but trailed 39-38 late in the first half. Puerto Rico never led again after that and the Dominican advantage was 76-66 with just more than 2 minutes to play. Puerto Rico came up with the next 6 points to trim the gap to 4 points. But Angel Pimental put back an offensive rebound with 43 seconds left to make it 78-72 and the final score was 78-73.

The hero was clearly Montero, who collected 32 points on 7-of-20 shots and 17-of-20 free throws to go with 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 6 steals and 1 block as he got his revenge over Puerto Rico. Pimental and Edixon Gomez each chipped in 11 points for the Dominicans. Puerto Rico hit just 1-of-15 three-pointers for 6.7 percent while Johned Walker collected 26 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals, Gregory Limage had 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Jeremy Figueroa tallied 18 points in the loss.

Puerto Rico had Day 3 off while the Dominicans beat Costa Rica 82-70 with Montero picking up 25 points, 13 rebounds, 7 steals and 5 assists; and Mexico beat Panama 79-58 to move to 2-0 after an early 95-38 victory over Costa Rica.

On Day 4, Mexico jumped ahead of Dominican Republic by 10 points early in the second quarter but scored just 5 points in the second frame and ended up losing 74-52 with Montero leading the way with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals and Huascar Cuevas adding 16 points and Yuhanser Ynfante chipping in 11 points and 8 rebounds. Puerto Rico for their part got past Costa Rica 79-64.

The final day of action saw Montero finish his great tournament with 26 points, 8 steals, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in an 88-72 victory for Dominican Republic over Panama. That clinched the title for the Dominicans - and gave Montero the MVP trophy.

In the game to basically decide second place, Mexico knocked off Puerto Rico 58-53, giving up an 11-point lead in the second quarter but coming back for the win. Martin Flores led the way with 14 points while Bryan Ceballos had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Eder Acevedo picked up 8 points, 14 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks. Walker paced Puerto Rico with 20 points, 15 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists.

Dominican Republic, Mexico and Puerto Rico compete the eight-team field for the FIBA U16 Americas Championship 2019 and will play alongside Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Uruguay and United States with the top four finishers qualifying for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2020.

The Dominicans have played at the last two U17 World Cups, Puerto Rico’s two appearances were in 2018 and 2014 while Mexico have never reached the global event. They did receive a great welcome upon their return home from Mexico.

Montero has exorcized his Puerto Rico ghost and now that young Dominican emerging star can turn his focus on trying to get to the U17 World Cup to face the other powers around the world

David Hein

FIBA

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