In just 25 minutes – at 7:00 pm local time, the gold medal game in the COCABA Championships will tip off in Cancun Mexico. Belize is playing the host country in a final game that promises to be dramatic. It is a dream ending for all Belizeans as the team has done us proud, going undefeated in four games, amply demonstrating Belize’s talent and resurgence as a regional basketball power.
Many thought the Belize team would never get to this game. Since the group got to Cancun they’ve encountered a challenge to the eligibility of seven players. That matter has been set aside for the time being, and when Keith Swift spoke with team members at their hotel this morning they were focused and ready for the game of their lives
Keith Swift
“I’ve seen you watching Mexico playing the other teams. Do you think it’s a team you can beat?”
Alex Carcamo
“Yeah, we can beat Mexico they’re big but slow, were fast and we’ve got great shooters I expect everybody to have their A-game tonight. It might be sloppy just because there’s so much animosity between Belize and Mexico but it’s all going to come down to experience and intelligence at this point.”
Keith Swift
“Has all of the controversy affected your mind at all?”
Alex Carcamo
“Nah, I live for this kind of stuff. Being a basketball player I love to play away so it’s going to be fun to hear all the taunting, cursing all that good stuff – that’s just good basketball.”
“Right now they have the pressure on them, being that it’s in Mexico and they’re playing to survive and they really don’t wanna lose to us to because of all the controversy that’s been going on between them, so they have the pressure we can just come in you know with our heads held high. I’ve said it before; I’m a two-time gold medalist so I’m going for three tonight.”
Kevin Seroki, Head Coach
“Gotta battle, that’s what it’s gonna be. They’re a really good team. They got bigs, they got guards. We’re gonna come out and show Belizean pride and Belizeans heart – that’s what it’s gonna be about. It’s gonna be 40 minutes of war.”
Keith Swift,
“They have size, do you think the advantage we have is speed?”
Kevin Seroki, Head Coach
“No question, that’s what we’re gonna use. They’re big and strong but we’re so much more athletic, so much more quicker, so we have to take advantage of it also.
Keith Swift
“What is the mood of the players as you prepare to play the other team that’s undefeated?”
Kevin Seroki, Head Coach
“Well, you know, tired. Guys are tired right now. Cause we played four hard games and today’s gonna be forty minutes of battle.”
Charlie Burgess
“The whole things that we been through since day one when we got here so now we finally get a chance to play against the team that was kind corrupting the whole tournament so it’s gonna be a war.”
Herbie Allen
“Mexico’s a great team and we’re a great team, so it’s gonna come down to the last couple minutes, I think but it’s gonna be a great game. Lotta Belizeans out there, lotta Mexicans out there it’s gonna be live, it’s gonna be hype.”
Milton Palacio, Team Captain
“For us it’s a privilege to be here you know that’s the biggest thing and this is what we tried to get to. I wasn’t coming down here and just, ahm, coming down here and just showing we were here. It was to get to the championship game.”
Keith Swift
“Are you in any way nervous about facing Mexico, or....”
Milton Palacio
“No, not at all. I’ve played better teams, me personally, I’ve been against stronger teams, so I’m not really intimidated I’m not really about who they bring in. We have to worry about ourselves.”
Keith Swift
“How does the feeling now compare to the feeling back in 1998 before the championship game then?”
Milton Palacio
“For me it was more nerve wracking because I was young, couldn’t sleep up all night, you know worried about what’s gonna happen in the game. But last night I took it easy had a nice dinner with my family. I think about three o’clock I’m gonna get a little anxious, a little nervous but this is the last game, I have nothing to save, might as well leave it all on the court.”
Keith Swift
“How do you feel that you might well win tonight and you might not get the gold?”
Milton Palacio
(Chuckles) We’ve thrown all the scenarios out the window. We’ve been here four days now. They’ve said everything: We are playing, we’re not playing; teams said they’re not stepping on the floor with us; they are stepping on the floor...we’re not really worried about that. If they don’t give it to us, they don’t. But it’ll something that we accomplished and something that we know we did everything by the books, we did it the right way, but if we go 5-0, that’s speaks a lot for this country.”
Later on, we’ll have more from the games as we show you how spirited the Belizean fans have been.
Update
Belize lost to Mexico in a close, tightly contested gold medal game 106-103. Highlights on Monday’s newscast.
