We ball like this
Lost two on the first day, but were still undefeated. The tournament was so easy to win, that it was boring, but ironically we suffered two big losses. Two players suffered knee injuries that ruled them out on the first day, and consequently they could not contribute on the court to the anticipated championship.
As CIPLC athletes, we always have winning in mind, and being champions is always our goal. It is in our blood. At least that is how it has been over the last years, and especially when it comes to basketball. Before this VANAS, we had reached 4 straight finals, winning 3 in a row, but losing the last one, which left us hungry for victory this year. We worked hard throughout the whole season, and we had more players on the team that we could take, so we even had to cut some people for the tournament. We arrived at Maracaibo knowing that, ECA, our rivals could not make it to the tournament due to circumstances that we were not aware of. That was sad news for us, since we wanted to face them really badly having in mind that the last 3 finals were against them. We instantly knew that without them the tournament was not going to be the same. And we were right. Nevertheless, we did not let that get in our way of winning, but honestly nothing could have. We could have split our team in half, and the final would have been CIPLC A vs. CIPLC B.
Our journey to victory did not have any setbacks, and the fact that 2 players (1 starter) got injured on the first day did not affect our game in the slightest shows that. However, those losses were unfortunate. The first one happened in the first game in the third quarter. Misael Morales, our starting point guard, was handling the ball close to midcourt when he faked a pass left and abruptly turned and passed right, and that turn caused his knee to move out of its place and tear ligaments. In other words, he unfortunately suffered what looks like the feared ACL injury. Eventually, he had to be taken to the hospital to be diagnosed, and there the doctor looked at our teammate and said that it was nothing major. Unfortunately, when we got back to Puerto La Cruz, he had an appointment and he was diagnosed with ACL. Apparently the situation is not clear yet for Misael, and hopefully we will hear good news about his injury.
However, Misael was not the only one to suffer, he had Antonio Morales on his side. In the second game, the CIPLC basketball player was going for a layup, but he was fouled in the air, and it caused him to fall right on his knee. What happened look severely painful, and he was taken out of the game right away. Minutes later he said he felt like he wanted to throw up, and that was definitely not a good sign, so he was taken to the hospital right away. First he was diagnosed by the doctor in Maracaibo with an ACL injury, and they took out blood from his knee. At that moment, it looked like Antonio had it worse than Misael. However, when we got back to Puerto La Cruz he went to the doctor, and he was diagnosed with a minor injury. Good news for him! Bad news for whomever goes to that doctor in Maracaibo. Apparently, it seems like he does not deserve to be a doctor.
As opposed to the unfortunate injuries, the basketball when smoothly for the CIPLC boys team, and there were no surprises. Every game was already won by the end of the first quarter, after that it was just a matter of the full time elapsing. In other words, it was kind of boring, and not competitive at all. Hopefully next year there will be more interesting matchups for CIPLC, but we can still gain another championship. We are Geckos and that is how we roll.
By: Jesus Rodriguez
Lost two on the first day, but were still undefeated. The tournament was so easy to win, that it was boring, but ironically we suffered two big losses. Two players suffered knee injuries that ruled them out on the first day, and consequently they could not contribute on the court to the anticipated championship.
As CIPLC athletes, we always have winning in mind, and being champions is always our goal. It is in our blood. At least that is how it has been over the last years, and especially when it comes to basketball. Before this VANAS, we had reached 4 straight finals, winning 3 in a row, but losing the last one, which left us hungry for victory this year. We worked hard throughout the whole season, and we had more players on the team that we could take, so we even had to cut some people for the tournament. We arrived at Maracaibo knowing that, ECA, our rivals could not make it to the tournament due to circumstances that we were not aware of. That was sad news for us, since we wanted to face them really badly having in mind that the last 3 finals were against them. We instantly knew that without them the tournament was not going to be the same. And we were right. Nevertheless, we did not let that get in our way of winning, but honestly nothing could have. We could have split our team in half, and the final would have been CIPLC A vs. CIPLC B.
Our journey to victory did not have any setbacks, and the fact that 2 players (1 starter) got injured on the first day did not affect our game in the slightest shows that. However, those losses were unfortunate. The first one happened in the first game in the third quarter. Misael Morales, our starting point guard, was handling the ball close to midcourt when he faked a pass left and abruptly turned and passed right, and that turn caused his knee to move out of its place and tear ligaments. In other words, he unfortunately suffered what looks like the feared ACL injury. Eventually, he had to be taken to the hospital to be diagnosed, and there the doctor looked at our teammate and said that it was nothing major. Unfortunately, when we got back to Puerto La Cruz, he had an appointment and he was diagnosed with ACL. Apparently the situation is not clear yet for Misael, and hopefully we will hear good news about his injury.
However, Misael was not the only one to suffer, he had Antonio Morales on his side. In the second game, the CIPLC basketball player was going for a layup, but he was fouled in the air, and it caused him to fall right on his knee. What happened look severely painful, and he was taken out of the game right away. Minutes later he said he felt like he wanted to throw up, and that was definitely not a good sign, so he was taken to the hospital right away. First he was diagnosed by the doctor in Maracaibo with an ACL injury, and they took out blood from his knee. At that moment, it looked like Antonio had it worse than Misael. However, when we got back to Puerto La Cruz he went to the doctor, and he was diagnosed with a minor injury. Good news for him! Bad news for whomever goes to that doctor in Maracaibo. Apparently, it seems like he does not deserve to be a doctor.
As opposed to the unfortunate injuries, the basketball when smoothly for the CIPLC boys team, and there were no surprises. Every game was already won by the end of the first quarter, after that it was just a matter of the full time elapsing. In other words, it was kind of boring, and not competitive at all. Hopefully next year there will be more interesting matchups for CIPLC, but we can still gain another championship. We are Geckos and that is how we roll.
By: Jesus Rodriguez