GUATEMALA – The Central American nation witnessed a new edition of the Central American U16 Championship in the women’s and men’s categories.

The tournament took place from Monday, March 25 in the facilities of the Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium, the basketball cathedral in the city of Guatemala, turning it into the epicenter of the greatest basketball festival in Central America.

The local national team achieved the gold medal in the women’s category after a 4-0 record; the second place and silver medal went to El Salvador, and the bronze for the Costa Rican national team.

The tournament also featured the Panama and Honduras national team, who respectively arrived fourth and fifth.

Mexico, for their part, took the gold in the men's category, after a 5-0 streak; Panama took the silver and the bronze went to El Salvador.

The remaining positions went to the national teams of Guatemala (4th), Costa Rica (5th) and Honduras (6th).

Through their social media sites, the National Guatemalan Basketball Federation (FNBG, for its Spanish acronym) stated: “The Central American tournament comes to an end and we wish to extend our gratitude to everyone at FIBA and COCABA for considering Guatemala to host this great event. We hope to have met all the delegations’ expectations throughout the visit in which they represented our sister Central American nations.”

The first two teams from each tournament qualified to the U-17 Centrobasket that will take place in July of this years, with a venue to yet be announced.

It should be noted that there was a three-way tie between El Salvador, Guatemala and Costa Rica for the third place, and it was determined by the point difference of the games played among them. El Salvador concluded with +16 points, Guatemala with -5, and Costa Rica -12.

Mario Méndez, President of the Central American Basketball Confederation, talked about the events in Guatemala: “We're happy because we were able to celebrate this tournament and get to more audiences, so that everyone knows how beautiful it is to compete in Central America.”

“There’s a great commitment. We must bolster the tournament and increase its quality. There was an excellent organization, a very good disposition. Everything is in order and now we must take a next step: have a more adequate court and a platform where we can tell everyone how we're playing basketball. That's our commitment for the next tournament,” added the Mexican directive.

The greatest scorer in the tournament for the men’s category was Mexican player Nikolás Meza; the best steal record was Cristhofer Estrada’s, from Guatemala; the best in assists was Isaac Machore, from Panama; and in rebounds, El Salvador's Connor Phipp was the most outstanding.

Nataly Larrañaga, from Guatemala, achieved the individual accolades of best scorer and most assists. Ariana Mora, from Costa Rica, was the best in rebounds; Diobleis Batista, from Panama, in steals.

“Seeing so much support from the parents makes us very proud. What we want is to develop the youth and have them take us to other stages — this is the future. They're the next leaders in Central America, which is why we have to work with them since they're very young,” he added.

“We must organize cultural events during the tournaments, and we must strive to foster more interaction among the players. The educational process is fundamental, as is being able to portray what goes on in the tournament and strengthening the ties between the different families. We must work very hard in the national federations and get better options, get better courts. We need all kids to play more so that the competition level is elevated,” he pointed out.

FIBA