SMOTHERED SHOT -- Jaguar Milan Marinkovic (9) blocks attempted shot by Griffin Santiago Moldinado (1). Both teams played tough defense. Jonatan Muñoz, International
After slow start, Jaguars beat Griffins 25-7
The Cooperative boys varsity basketball team was ultimately able to put together a convincing win over International, 25-7, in the International gym Thursday -- but it was a strange game that at one point figured to be one of the lowest-scoring high school games in Bolivian history.
Both teams clearly had bad cases of first-game jitters, and neither managed to score a field goal in the first quarter. It ended with the score 1-0 in favor of International, whose point came on a foul shot by Felipe Molina. Numerous shots from the floor banged off the backboard and twanged on the rim, but none went in the hoop.
Indeed, it was three minutes into the second period before Griffin Joaquin Wray put in a lay-up to tally the first field goal and give his team what at the time seemed like an insurmountable 3-0 lead.
Cooperative finally did seem to get its scoring knack back, and was able to score eight points -- three of them on field goals -- to give the Jaguars an 8-3 lead at the half.
While it needs to be added that both teams were playing frantically on defense, it also might be noted that the two boys varsity teams had managed less than half the points that the two girls varsity teams had managed in the first half of their game a short while before.
Cooperative seemed to get its eye back in the third period, tallying eleven points to International's two, and taking a 19-5 lead.
In the fourth period International stepped up its defensive effort, allowing Cooperative only a single field goal. However, the intense ball hawking resulted in a number of fouls, most of them on Jaguar forward Milan Marinkovic, who capitalized on them to score four points from the foul line in the closing minutes.
International could manage only one more basket, and the final score stood at 25-7.
That meant the boys teams had almost caught up with the girls teams in combined score.
For Cooperative, Milan Marinkovic had nine points, Jose Moza had eight, Nicolas Suarez five, Oliver Lederman two, and Andres Shin 1.
For International, Felipe Molina, Joaquin Wray, and Gary Suarez each had two points, and Fran Gonzalez had one.
The Cooperative boys varsity basketball team was ultimately able to put together a convincing win over International, 25-7, in the International gym Thursday -- but it was a strange game that at one point figured to be one of the lowest-scoring high school games in Bolivian history.
Both teams clearly had bad cases of first-game jitters, and neither managed to score a field goal in the first quarter. It ended with the score 1-0 in favor of International, whose point came on a foul shot by Felipe Molina. Numerous shots from the floor banged off the backboard and twanged on the rim, but none went in the hoop.
Indeed, it was three minutes into the second period before Griffin Joaquin Wray put in a lay-up to tally the first field goal and give his team what at the time seemed like an insurmountable 3-0 lead.
Cooperative finally did seem to get its scoring knack back, and was able to score eight points -- three of them on field goals -- to give the Jaguars an 8-3 lead at the half.
While it needs to be added that both teams were playing frantically on defense, it also might be noted that the two boys varsity teams had managed less than half the points that the two girls varsity teams had managed in the first half of their game a short while before.
Cooperative seemed to get its eye back in the third period, tallying eleven points to International's two, and taking a 19-5 lead.
In the fourth period International stepped up its defensive effort, allowing Cooperative only a single field goal. However, the intense ball hawking resulted in a number of fouls, most of them on Jaguar forward Milan Marinkovic, who capitalized on them to score four points from the foul line in the closing minutes.
International could manage only one more basket, and the final score stood at 25-7.
That meant the boys teams had almost caught up with the girls teams in combined score.
For Cooperative, Milan Marinkovic had nine points, Jose Moza had eight, Nicolas Suarez five, Oliver Lederman two, and Andres Shin 1.
For International, Felipe Molina, Joaquin Wray, and Gary Suarez each had two points, and Fran Gonzalez had one.
