Brujos de Izalco, champion of the Clausura U-21 basketball – – 2024-03-03 03:58:46

First title. Brujos de Izalco beat Cougars 78-72 in the second game of the final series of the 2023 Clausura Tournament of the U-21 Basketball League and were crowned champions for the first time in this category. The Izalqueños swept the series 2-0 after winning yesterday in a close duel on the field of the Inclusive Sports City (CDI).

In an atmosphere worthy of a final, where good basketball and partying reigned in the stands, Brujos de Izalco and Cougars were up to the task. The Westerners took advantage on the scoreboard from the first period, showing their intentions to close the series with a sweep.

Alfonso Tobar led the Izalco team’s attack from the beginning, fighting a tough battle with Justin Martínez, who responded with points to keep the Cougars in the fight. In the end, Brujos closed the first episode with a nine-point lead, 22-13.

Cougars tried to react in the second quarter and with the help of Santiago Guzmán and José Bonilla they got 18 points, but Brujos responded with 16, leaving the overall score 38-31 always in favor of the Westerners.

After the half-time break, the game continued in the same vein. Izalqueños Tobar and Josué Urquilla did their thing by contributing eight and four points, respectively, but the pumas did not make things easy for them and finished the episode with 19 points each, but on the general scoreboard Brujos maintained their distance of seven points (57-50).

The closing of the game was intense. Cougars fought until the last minute to avoid the sweep, while Brujos dreamed of the championship. With 5:03 minutes left, Martínez made a triple that brought the pumas closer to five points and although they won the quarter 21-22, it was not enough to erase the distance that Brujos had previously achieved and they ended up losing 78-72.

At halftime, the Salvadoran Basketball Federation (Fesabal) took the opportunity to present the awards to the individual champions, in which Ariel Interiano, from Cougars, was the winner, who won the MVP of the tournament as well as the title of rebounding champion with 156 boards; while his teammate, Emerson Hernández, won the award for best assister, with 89.

Jaime González, from Búhos, was the scoring champion with 273 points. For his part, Fernando Cañada, from Arcense, was the best three-point scorer, with 19 scores; and the champion in steals was Demian Huezo, from ITD Santa Tecla, with 55. In blocks, Josué Majano, from Águila San Miguel, was the champion with 24 blocks.

In the final of the U-21 League Cup, Santa Tecla Elite was crowned champion of the 2023 Clausura Tournament by beating Nejapa 79-75.