Basketball Wins First-Ever Regional Championship

As the clock ran to zero, players, coaches, parents, and students all began to realize what was about to be accomplished on the Wolverines' home court on February 24. Nervous energy evolved into pure joy, and at the sound of the buzzer, hundreds of students rushed to celebrate their classmates on the court. For the first time, the Belen Jesuit Basketball Team are Regional Champions. 

The Wolverines had worked all season to make it to the Regional Championship game, a familiar obstacle for the program. After defeating Terra Environmental Research Institute twice in post-season play and crushing the Pirates from Rockledge High School in the Regional Semi-Final, the team knew that defeating Miami Norland would be a tall order. Norland is a team with size at every position. They have incredible shooting talent and are coached extremely well by Coach Lawton Williams, a legendary basketball coach here in Miami. 

As the Wolverines took the floor on Friday night, both teams began to size each other up. The same could be said for the student sections from both schools. After the tip-off, the Vikings’ Caleb Clark scored two 3-point baskets in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Could this be where the Wolverines fall? After all, what the team had accomplished simply by making it to the Regional Championship was enough for the Belen community to be proud of. However, after quick adjustments by Head Coach Gaston “Chachi” Rodríguez, the Wolverines went on a 19-7 scoring run and never looked back. The Wolverines were uncaged.

This game felt like two heavyweight boxers going back and forth, delivering big blow after big blow. Another test for the Wolverines came from the Vikings’ Marcis Ponder, the 6’11” Freshman. As he came onto the floor, the atmosphere in the gym changed. How would the Wolverines respond? Led by seven seniors, the Wolverines were unfazed by his impact. Ponder soaked up rebounds and gave the Vikings another offensive weapon, but even he was not enough to keep the Wolverines from playing their brand of basketball. Quick ball movement and stellar shooting from beyond the arc proved to be the key for the Wolverines, as every time the Vikings got close, Belen would hit a triple to keep them at arm's length. The execution of this game plan secured the win for the Wolverines and earned them the title of Regional Champions.

This milestone is not foreign to Head Coach Gaston “Chachi” Rodríguez. As a State Champion Coach at Champagnat Catholic and Coral Reef Senior High, Coach Chachi knows what it takes to stand at the top of the mountain. 

“This is a bigger honor than any other I’ve ever felt,” said Rodriguez. “Our school is a brotherhood, and the basketball family, because it is smaller, is even tighter. To know that so many of our brothers were as emotional that night as we were, was amazing. And to me, that is truly an honor!”