Americas
Play continued in Puerto Rico and the short break did not slow Manati down as they defeated Moca. The other game on Tuesday saw Carolina win at Isabela. On Wednesday, Manati edged Santurce and Morovis came back to defeat Lares. Carolina defeated Isabela again on Thursday, this time at home. Hatillo’s late comeback attempt was not enough against Santurce on Friday. Moca defeated Lares in the first game on Saturday and then Manati widened the gap on the rest of the field with a win over Carolina. Both games on Sunday were close with Morovis defeating Isabela and then Hatillo returned to full strength and edged Moca.
The upper group concluded play in Uruguay on Saturday, including Malvin’s win over Hebraica Macabi. That gave 25 Agosto the chance to move up a spot, but they lost to Yale. Aguada defeated Defensor Sporting.
New Zealand
The Final 4 was played over the weekend with only the last place Pouakai not involved. The top seed Kahu defeated the Whai in the first game on Saturday and then Chrislyn Carr’s 35 points helped the Queens offset 32 points from Ahlise Hurst to advance past the Hoiho. The losing teams played for third place on Sunday and McKenna Dale had 30 points for the Whai in a win over the Hoiho. In the championship, it was all Kahu early and IImar’I Thomas had 31 points to lead them past the Queens.
Arab Club Championship
Six clubs from the Arab world headed to Marrakech, Morocco to compete for the championship with a full round-robin being scheduled before the semifinals. The opener on Wednesday saw Cosider of Algeria defeat Al Qurain of Kuwait and then hosts Kawkab had an easy win against Gift Stars of Somalia. Cosider defeated Gift Stars in the first game on Thursday and then Fatima Bint Mubarak Academy from the United Arab Emirates made their debut, losing to Al Qurain, which got 31 points from Houda Hamrouni. With the impact of Saudi Arabia on many parts of the sports world recently, there was some anticipation for the last team in the tournament to make their debut and Cierra Dillard certainly did her part for The Capital Club with 37 points, but Italee Lucas had 32 points for Al Qurain and they won. Kawkab put on a show at home in a big win over Fatima Bint Mubarak Academy in Friday’s other game. The earthquake in Morocco postponed games starting on Saturday.
Europe Starts
The season got underway in Europe with the Supercup being contested in the Netherlands. It was an easy win for the Grasshoppers against the Suns. The regular season in the league starts next weekend and it will not be the only league in action by then, but more leagues will be starting the following weekend as the season begins in earnest.
Women's Basketball News and Opinions 