Centrobasket started on Wednesday in San Salvador as Cuba was not able to make it, leaving five teams playing and giving players a rest from the planned five games in five days format. Puerto Rico has been named AmeriCup hosts so the top three finishers besides them will join them in June, meaning that only the last place team will not advance. Puerto Rico is without their European-based players and received a further blow with two veterans unavailable, but the US Virgin Islands, which has good players, but frequently struggles to field a full roster, certainly was not going to sympathize. Anisha George had a fantastic game for them, but Puerto Rico did enough in the fourth quarter to win 73-69. The absence of other contending teams meant that the biggest game of the tournament was probably the first day nightcap. Aida Funes and El Salvador started well at home, but Silvia Betancourt and Costa Rica fought back before falling short 84-79. On Thursday, Taylor Jones led the US Virgin Islands past Costa Rica 81-51. The Dominican Republic was the last team to make their debut and Elemy Colome led them against rivals Puerto Rico, which did get one of their players back on their way to a 99-90 win behind Jada Stinson.
The rest of the standings started to take shape on Friday as an Imani Tate triple-double helped the US Virgin Islands get past the Dominican Republic 81-76. Puerto Rico was at full strength for the first time and beat El Salvador 75-33. Saturday started with Puerto Rico beating Costa Rica 79-39. The Dominican Republic took care of business with an 82-58 win over El Salvador. On Sunday, Costa Rica needed a win to grab the last spot in the Americas-wide tournament and fought hard against Yohanna Morton and the Dominican Republic, but lost 68-63. El Salvador had the chance to grab another win at home and show that they can at least be dangerous this summer, but a good game from Emily Tevez was not enough as Anisha George and Imani Tate got the US Virgin Islands an 80-68 win to close out the event.
March 24, 2021
Puerto Rico vs. US Virgin Islands 73-69 PUR Rosado 18/7r/8a Stinson 16 I. Quinones 12 Benitez 11 Lozada-Cabbage 8/10r Gonzalez 6 K. Quinones 2 Smalls 0 Gonzalez-Varner 0 De Leon 0 Melendez DNP Gibson DNP ISV George 30/15r Jones 13/10r Richards 12/6r Tate 10/12r/9a Bough 4 Barry 0 Ngongba 0 Matthew 0 Frett 0
Costa Rica vs. El Salvador 79-84 CRC Betancourt 29 Galvez 13 Quesada 8/8r Jimenez 8 Alvarado 8/6a A. Mora 7/6r Gonzalez 6 Castro 0 M. Mora 0 Alfaro 0 Cubero DNP Reyna DNP ESA Funes 22 Villalobos 16/11r Tevez 15 Calderon 10/8r Mendez 6 Murcia 6 Vega 4 Cubias 3 Alvarado 2 Hernandez 0 Noyola DNP Tejada DNP
March 25, 2021
US Virgin Islands vs. Costa Rica 81-51 ISV Jones 25/7r Tate 15/11r/7a George 12/12r Matthew 11 Richards 7/6r Frett 4/10r Barry 3 Bough 2/11r Ngongba 2/7r CRC Galvez 12 Alvarado 9 Betancourt 8/6r Cubero 6 Quesada 5 Castro 3 Alfaro 3 A. Mora 2 Jimenez 2 M. Mora 1 Reyna 0 Gonzalez 0
Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico 90-99 DOM Colome 25 Morton 12/6r Monsac 8/10r Marte 8/6r Evangelista 8 Rodriguez 8 Ramirez-Tejada 6 Capellan 6 Jimenez 3/7r Hernandez 3 Zapata 3 Abreu 0 PUR Stinson 25 Rosado 18/11a Benitez 16 Gonzalez 16 Melendez 14 Lozada-Cabbage 6/6r I. Quinones 4 Gonzalez-Varner 0 De Leon 0 K. Quinones 0 Smalls 0 Gibson DNP
March 26, 2021
Dominican Republic vs. US Virgin Islands 76-81 DOM Colome 17/7s Morton 14 Capellan 12 Marte 6 Monsac 6 Zapata 6 Jimenez 4/6r Abreu 4 Rodriguez 6 Evangelista 3 Hernandez 0 Ramirez-Tejada 0 ISV Tate 20/14r/12a George 16/12r Ngongba 15 Matthew 12 Richards 6 Frett 5 Jones 5 Barry 2 Bough 0/7r
El Salvador vs. Puerto Rico 33-75 ESA Cubias 10 Mendez 6 Funes 4 Noyola 3 Villalobos 2/8r Tevez 2 Alvarado 2 Vega 2 Calderon 2 Hernandez 0 Tejada 0 Murcia 0 PUR Stinson 14 Smalls 12 Benitez 10 Rosado 9 I. Quinones 8/9r Melendez 7 Gibson 6 K. Quinones 4 De Leon 2 Gonzalez 2 Gonzalez-Varner 1 Lozada-Cabbage 0
March 27, 2021
Costa Rica vs. Puerto Rico 39-79 CRC Quesada 10 Jimenez 7/6r Alfaro 5 A. Mora 4/6r Alvarado 4 Cubero 3 Galvez 2 Castro 2 Betancourt 2 Reyna 0 Gonzalez 0 M. Mora 0 PUR I. Quinones 17/10r Melendez 11 Rosado 9/8r Gonzalez-Varner 9/7r Lozada-Cabbage 9/6r Smalls 6/9r Gonzalez 6 Benitez 4 Gibson 3 Stinson 3 K. Quinones 2 De Leon 0
Dominican Republic vs. El Salvador 82-58 DOM Morton 15 Evangelista 14 Rodriguez 12/9r Monsac 8/7r Ramirez-Tejada 8/7r Abreu 8 Colome 7 Capellan 3 Hernandez 3 Jimenez 2 Marte 2 Zapata 0 ESA Funes 16 Villalobos 13/14r Calderon 8 Alvarado 7 Mendez 7 Tevez 2 Murcia 2 Vega 1 Cubias 1 Hernandez 1 Noyola 0 Tejada 0
March 28, 2021
Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic 63-68 CRC Galvez 17 Quesada 16 Alvarado 11 Betancourt 8/6r/6a Jimenez 4 Alfaro 4 M. Mora 2 Gonzalez 1 A. Mora 0/8r Castro 0 Reyna 0 Cubero DNP DOM Morton 22/6r Colome 15/6r Evangelista 8/8r Jimenez 7 Rodriguez 6/7r Monsac 6 Ramirez-Tejada 2 Hernandez 2 Abreu 0 Capellan 0 Marte 0 Zapata DNP
El Salvador vs. US Virgin Islands 68-80 ESA Tevez 25/7r Villalobos 13/12r Funes 13 Mendez 6 Alvarado 4 Vega 4 Calderon 3 Noyola 0 Cubias 0 Murcia 0 Hernandez 0 Tejada 0 ISV George 22/14r Tate 20/8r/8a/6s Jones 11 Matthew 8 Richards 7 Ngongba 6 Bough 4 Barry 2 Frett 0
Standings: Puerto 4-0, US Virgin Islands 3-1, Dominican Republic 2-2, El Salvador 1-3, Costa Rica 0-4