Florida hoopsters eye three-peat
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Winnipeg Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*$1 will be added to your next bill. After your 4 weeks access is complete your rate will increase by $0.00 a X percent off the regular rate.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/08/2023 (794 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Team USA will try to make it a three-peat at this year’s 5×5 basketball event at the World Police and Fire Games.
The American team is made up of customs and border protections agents from Miami, Fla. The squad has been playing together for 10 years and is competing in its third WPFG in the 35 and older division. They won the event last year in Rotterdam, Netherlands and in 2019 in Chengdu, China.
Team USA took on the Hong Kong Police and Fire team Sunday afternoon and despite a slow start managed to settle in and eventually cruise to a 41-29 victory. The win also secured the Americans a trip to the gold medal match on Wednesday at noon at Investors Group Athletic Centre.
Mike Thiessen / Winnipeg Free Press
A member of the Hong Kong police force eyes a foul shot in a WPFG basketball game against U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers.
Juan Alvarez, suffered an injury earlier in the tournament and was not able to play in Tuesday’s game, but served as the squad’s coach for the game. Despite a rocky first half, Alvarez thought his team showed well in their penultimate game.
“It went pretty well. I felt like we started very slow and very sluggish we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make baskets, it didn’t look like my team was having fun out there so we had to call a timeout and get them situated and from there on it turned into a better basketball game,” Alvarez said following their win Tuesday.
While the Florida-based team certainly boasts size, skill and speed, the chemistry and familiarity with one another sets them apart. On a number of possessions, quick passing led to easy layups and open shots for the Americans which helped them build and maintain a double-digit lead in the second half.
When asked about looking ahead to tomorrow’s final, Peter Jimenez said his squad has a third straight gold medal on their minds.
“I think we would be the first team to three-peat, thats what we’re trying to do,” said Jimenez.
The Florida hoostper added his team keeps coming back to the games year after year because of the chance to meet, compete and interact with so many different kinds of people from all over the world. Jimenez says while participants at the WPFG are different in many ways they share a certain commonality that creates a connection between them.
“It’s amazing, seeing cultural differences, different races, and everything like that, but the one thing that brings us together is that we all take an oath to take care of people all across the world whether its being a firefighter, police department, its funny how we have alot more things in common as opposed to not… there’s a camaraderie.”
donald.stewart@freepress.mb.ca
