Second Helpings

On Sunday (8/3) before heading to San Felipe for late-afternoon games, Hoops Sagrado made a day-long pit stop at Xocomil, a water park on the coast.

Now I know what you’re thinking…. “A water park? In Guatemala?” But seriously, this place is Disney World clean and not some place you would expect to find in a country that’s average household income is less than $1500 per year. Ahh, coffee plantations.

A water park with a theme of an ancient Mayan city is just wrong, yet so much fun. Sort of like pineapple on pizza.

Although some of us would have been content to spend the day on the lazy river (okay the two of us in the over-35 bracket) most everyone gave one of the many death-defying water slides a whirl. Fortunately, since we had three games to play that evening, everyone survived—albeit with a new found appreciation for just how much fun things can be with a different concept of safety—I mean really, what could possibly be unsafe about essentially climbing a 5-story building and shooting down a fiberglass tube into a 4-ft. pool of water with nothing but a thin piece of Styrofoam and your moxy?

After a day filled with sun and fun and admittedly a much needed break for everyone, we boarded the bus for San Felipe just as the heavens opened up and unleashed upon us a rainstorm that would have been worthy of a day off from work in D.C. It rained so hard that when we entered the gym in San Felipe we couldn’t hear each other (or our iPods) over the sound of the rain pounding on the tin roof.

Once they got the rain water off the court (covered mind you, but with no glass in the windows, things got a bit damp) and the lights turned on, Las Chicas were the first to take the floor. Although the ladies led for much of the game, once again toward the end of the game they were schooled by a 38-year-old with an awesome outside shot. In spite of the 45 to 33 loss, it really was a complete team effort and minus some questionable calls and the gutsy play of the ladies on the other team, it could have easily been a victory: Jordyn 10p/3a/4r; Tyler 13p/1a/1r; Breezy 3p/4a/3r; Brittany 2p/3r; Bookie 1r; Melody 1r; and Akasha 2p/3r.

The Young Guns faired a bit better with the final score although it was a close one. As is the case with just about every place we play, the calls were questionable and the Young Guns’ coach came this close to being shown the door…before he actually got the tech. Once again, everyone participated in the 39 to 34 victory and the stat line shows the complete picture: Brandon 9p/1a/4r; Johari 8p/4a/4r; Alex 7p/17r; Ronald 2p/7r; Connor 10p/1/7r; Lexus 3r.

Tensions were high before the tip-off for the Old Heads game but it quickly became obvious that this wouldn’t be quite the throw-down that some were expecting. The Old Heads jumped off to a quick lead that never dipped by more less than 16 points. When it became obvious how things were going to go, the mood loosened up and everyone on both teams seemed to have a good time in the 84 to 56 victory for the Knights. Bryan 17p/12a/2r; Aniekan 18p/2a/5r; Stan 10p/1a/2r; Jerrod 22p/5a/3r; Alex 11p/1a/4r; Johari 2a/1r; Connor 7p/3a/3r; Ronald 2p/1r; Stat Girl 1a.

Overall we ended the weekend 5-1 and are now looking forward to renewing our rivalry with Xela on Saturday night and Sunday in the Cantel Tournament.